7/29/2019 Marijuana - Marijuana and Prevention

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PreventingMarijuanaUse

A recent independent, third-party evaluation of middle-school youth living in

drug--free coalition-funded communities found a 12 percent reduction in

alcohol use, 28 percent reduction in tobacco use and 24 percent reduction in

marijuana use between 2007 and 2009. High school--aged youth havereduced their use of alcohol by 8 percent, tobacco by 17 percent and

marijuana by 11 percent in drug-free coalition communities.

To date, CADCA (Community Anti--Drug Coalitions of America) has trained

more than 60,000 adult and youth prevention professionals and has hosted

presidents (including Bill Clinton, who gladly tooK the torch from his

predecessor, George H.W. Bush, and signed the first major piece of

legislation, the Drug--Free Communities Act, funding thousands of

coalitions across the country).i

Protective factors include engagement in religious activities, family

communication and cohesion and school engagement including

completing homeworK and participating in extracurricular activities.

Teachers can provide a great deal of support for adolescents by serving as a

buffer for negative peer interactions and by helping to develop a feeling of

connection with school.iiiii

iDrugFreeCommunitiesSupportProgram,OfficeofNationalDrugControlPolicy,WashingtonD.C.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/ondcp/Drug-Free-Communities-Support-Program

iiKliewer,W.,&Murrelle,L.(2007).Riskandprotectivefactorsforadolescentsubstanceuse:

FindingsfromastudyinselectedCentralAmericancountries.JournalofAdolescentHealth,40:448-

455.

iiiCheng,TC&Lo,CC.(2011).Alongitudinalanalysisofsomeriskandprotectivefactorsinmarijuana

usebyadolescentsreceivingchildwelfareservices.ChildrenandYouthServicesReview,33:1667 -

1672.