NCJ Number
166672
Date Published
1997
Length
68 pages
Annotation
This U.S. General Accounting Office (GAO) review of the Federal drug control strategy reports on recent research that points to promising drug prevention and treatment approaches for school-age youth.
Abstract
The first prevention approach emphasizes drug resistance skills, generic problem-solving and decisionmaking training, and modification of norms and attitudes that encourage drug use, while the second prevention approach involves the coordinated use of multiple social institutions, such as family, community, and schools. Both approaches have reduced student drug use and have strengthened the individual's ability to resist drugs. In the case of cocaine use, potentially promising treatment approaches include avoidance or better management of drug-triggering situations; exposure to community support programs, drug sanctions, and employment counseling; and use of a coordinated behavioral, emotional, and cognitive treatment approach. Drug abuse clients using these strategies have maintained extended periods of cocaine abstinence and greater retention in treatment programs. While the preceding prevention and treatment approaches have shown promising outcomes in some programs, sufficient evaluative research has not been conducted to test their effectiveness and applicability among different populations in varied settings. Such research should help policymakers better focus efforts and resources in the overall Federal drug control strategy. In addition, despite some successes, U.S. and host country efforts have not materially reduced the availability of drugs in the United States. The GAO recommends the Office of National Drug Control Policy complete the development of a long- term drug control plan with meaningful performance measures and multiyear funding needs, annually review the progress made and adjust the plan as appropriate, enhance support for the increased use of intelligence and technology to reduce the supply of and interdict illegal drugs, and lead in developing a centralized lessons learned data system to aid agency planners and operators in developing more effective counterdrug efforts. Additional research is also recommended for drug abuse prevention and treatment. Appendixes contain supplemental information on drug abuse prevention and treatment and the progress made by the U.S. Coast Guard in drug interdiction, along with a list of related GAO products. 73 footnotes, 5 tables, and 3 figures