Alcohol & Drug Abuse Prevention & Control Programs

Statistics compiled from the National Household Survey on Drug Abuse show as many as 9.7 percent of youths age 12 to 17 engaged in drug activities in 2000. The same percentage of adults received treatment for substance abuse issues between 2004 and 2007, according to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Alcohol and drug abuse prevention and control programs are designed to assist both youths and adults in dealing with substance abuse issues.

Prevention Programs

• Alcohol and drug abuse prevention programs are community-based projects that aim to educate young people on the dangers of drug use. Projects may receive state or federal funding or be privately owned. These programs teach youths how to live a healthy lifestyle and provide them with coping skills on how to handle life problems. These measures are put in place to reduce the likelihood that a young person will turn to alcohol and drugs as a solution to life's problems. Prevention programs are also a built-in feature for many control programs as a means to assist individuals throughout the recovery process.

Control Programs

• Alcohol and drug abuse control programs provide an array of services to assist individuals with treatment and recovery issues. Individual status assessments, referral services, detoxification services, outpatient counseling, substance abuse education and aftercare services are put in place to provide assistance through each stage of the addiction/recovery process. A number of these programs are designed to work with specific population groups like women, young people, victims of abuse and certain ethnic groups. The severity of a person's addiction, coupled with his individual life circumstances, will determine which type of services are needed.

The Addiction Process

• Alcohol and drug addictions are difficult to break because of the dual nature of addiction. There are both biological and psychological factors are at play within the addiction process, requiring both aspects to be treated in order for recovery to take root. Prevention programs work to establish an individual's ability to think logically and cope with life's stressors in a productive manner. Their objective is to gird up a young person's psychological coping styles as a preventative measure. Control programs work to address an individual's physical addiction, as well as the psychological dependency on the drug.

Medication Therapy

• Alcohol and drug abuse control programs include medication therapy as a form of treatment when it is needed. Medication is used as a means of stabilizing individuals who enter into treatment with feelings of anxiety or depression. Oftentimes these emotions are withdrawal symptoms that occur once an individual enters into detoxification. Other ways in which medication treatment may be administered is in cases where an addiction is so severe to the point where the body experiences adverse reactions in the absence of the drug. Methodone, buprenorphine and naltrexone are examples of medications given in cases of opiate addiction. These drugs, in effect, mimic the physical effects of an opiate, thereby making it possible for the body to adjust as detoxification treatment is administered.

Support Systems

• The establishing of a healthy support system is an integral part of alcohol and drug abuse prevention and control programs. From the outset, the importance of surrounding oneself with positive influences, role models and activities is demonstrated by the structure, principles and practices demonstrated within both prevention and control programs. Youth activities, education and healthy peer relationships make up the core guidelines within prevention programs. Group therapy, support groups, 12-step programs and spiritual community represent the importance of support systems within control programs.