Substance Abuse Prevention for Youth: Bridging Research and Practice

The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments collaborated with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) to address the issue of substance abuse prevention among high-risk youth. The conference entitled Substance Abuse Prevention for Youth: Bridging Research and Practice, convened approximately 150 service providers and youth in the nation’s capitol to share knowledge about research-based approaches to substance abuse and use among today’s youth. The specific objectives of the initiative were as follows:

• To educate on proven scientific models for the prevention of substance use and abuse among youth exposed to high-risk environmental conditions.
• To expand and encourage increased utilization of integrated models (home, school and community) through collaboration among service providers across the Washington metropolitan area.
• To disseminate knowledge on proven technology.

The event opened with a series of welcoming and opening remarks from Michael Rogers, Executive Director of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments; Gerald Connolly, Chairman of the COG Board; and, Stephen Gardner, Acting Deputy Director of the Division of Knowledge Development and Evaluation, the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention. Mr. Rogers outlined the instrumental role that COG has played in facilitating ongoing dialogue about violence and drug abuse in the region. In 1988, the COG-sponsored Drug Summit initiated an effort to reveal the source of the drug problems plaguing the region and the nation. Mr. Connolly followed by presenting statistics that delineated the magnitude of the substance abuse problems in the region. Citing a 1998 COG report, he noted that over 4,000 arrests for the sale and manufacture of illegal substances were reported in the region. Furthermore, a Youth and Alcohol Street Survey indicated that 81% of young people have experimented with alcohol and that the average first age of alcohol use was fourteen years. Stephen Gardener outlined CSAP’s efforts toward the eradication of substance abuse.

The conference proceedings opened with the morning plenary delivered by Dr. Alan Leshner, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, (NIDA). Dr. Leshner emphasized the need for practitioners to understand the reasons why the client uses drugs. He noted that the clinical worker must cease to rely solely on risk and protective factors, rather, the clinician must seek to understand the client and the client’s unique needs. He identified two categories of substance abusers: 1) people who abuse in order to self-medicate; and, 2) people who abuse for novelty-seeking purposes. The prevention messages and programming approaches employed by the practitioners will vary according to the category of substance abusers. Dr. Leshner concluded by describing the NIDA initiative that put science-based information into schools and communities called "NIDA Goes to School". This program sends science-based information to all middle schools in the United States.

The morning sessions consisted of four concurrent workshops covering a broad array of topics that dealt with the implementation of effective science-based approaches to substance abuse prevention. The first session, Community Leadership and Resiliency presented researched-based and community-directed initiatives to addressing substance abuse among youth in the region. Two highlighted programs were T.E.A.M Georgetown South (a program in Prince William County) and the Fairfax County Leadership and Resiliency Program.

The Early Prevention – Youth Exposed to Violence session was a presentation of ongoing programs in the region that address substance abuse from the risk factor of the youth exposed to violence. The discussion presented the challenges to working with youth in this high-risk category and provided suggestions to enhance programming for them. Specific programs presented in this session included the Long Branch Neighborhood Initiative and the Montgomery County Safe and Drug-Free School initiative.

Strategies to Address Social Pressures session was a youth-driven panel presentation by youth representatives from the National Capital Coalition to Prevent Underage Drinking. The interactive exchange between panelists and participants addressed such issues as the impact of peer pressure on a teen’s decision to drink, the role of the family in preventing underage drinking, and the importance of making healthy decisions.

Strengthening Washington DC Families was the final morning concurrent session and two local family-based drug prevention initiatives were presented. The first program, Marshall Heights Community Development program is a holistic approach to prevention by encompassing treatment, after-care, education, healthcare, vocational and employment training. The Strengthening Washington Metropolitan Families Project (SFP) is a research-based initiative that uses family-skills training to reduce problem behaviors in high-risk children of substance abusers.

Donald Vereen, Deputy Director, Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) delivered the second plenary session of the day. Mr. Vereen provided the incidence rates of a segment of the drug abusing population not widely addressed in prevention efforts, anabolic steroid users. Although the impetus for anabolic steroid use by teenagers may be to enhance performance, there are still serious physical and cognitive repercussions from its use. The national strategy at the ONDCP is to educate about the risk of all kinds of substance abuse and the impact of the chemicals on the brain. He concluded by encouraging prevention workers to apply research-based principles in their efforts.

The afternoon sessions dealt primarily with community rebuilding and putting research into practice. The first session, Rebuilding Communities: A Comprehensive Approach presented regional programs that utilize multiple components of the community in substance abuse prevention efforts. These components include women’s groups, faith-based communities, after-school programs, parent groups and neighborhood coalitions. The information presented demonstrated the effectiveness of a contextualist approach to drug abuse prevention.

Communication of Drug Abuse Science with Prevention Practitioners was an interactive exchange between panelists and participants. The panel identified problems and opportunities in the communication of drug abuse research to practitioners. Practitioners identified specific obstacles to receiving the research including the difficulty in adapting research-based techniques to their specific conditions, and lack of specialized training for interpreting research results. Ideas were advanced about approaches to removing the barriers between the groups.

Strengthening the Environment through Youth Advocacy in the Legislative Process presented the process in the passage of a bill. Issues covered included

1. Determining your local, regional and state representatives;
2. Knowing the issues for which the representatives advocate; and,
3. Understanding the legislative process.

The final session of the day, Bridging Science Through Law Enforcement, focused on the importance of law enforcement and prevention practitioners working closely together and developing an interdependent working relationship. The pooling of resources across both disciplines ensures greater successes in youth prevention efforts throughout the region.

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