Preventative Approach To Substance Abuse

As the number of Americans struggling with alcohol or drug use has risen to alarmingly high levels, substance abuse has become a major public health concern. The abuse of illegal drugs, prescription medications, and alcohol does not only have negative physical and social consequences for the individuals who use them; the implications are widespread among entire communities as substance abuse has been linked to increasing rates of violence, sexually transmitted diseases, and motor vehicle accidents (Healthy People). Thus, in order to help remedy the prevalence of substance abuse in the United States, public health organizations seek to reduce the incidence of new cases through prevention efforts rather than focusing on the treatment of existing …show more content…
Through the implementation of a bivariate intervention in which appropriate and meaningful drug education is brought into classrooms across the country and after-school programs that promote healthy lifestyles and fun, wholesome recreational activities are provided, the next generation of youth can be better enabled and empowered to make healthy decisions regarding substance use later in life. This intervention will also encourage meaningful dialogue about issues regarding drug use and abuse in the home by providing qualified counselors who can help support students facing the challenges and negative effects of substance abuse in their family lives. Thus, instead of lecturing on the dangers of drugs and using fear as a motivator, this intervention strategy seeks to focus on promoting abstinence from harmful substances by using comradery, health, and happiness as the means for motivating healthy decisions for America’s …show more content…
These obstacles include, but are not limited to insufficient funding, stereotypes that label after-school programs as unsuccessful or uninteresting, insufficient support, and individual responsibility. To be specific, finding funding for afterschool programs can be tricky as schools often do not have an abundance of financial resources available. The government would need to provide a large portion of the funding necessary which can be a significant investment even though prevention will decrease treatment expenditures in the long run. Furthermore, due to the stereotype that afterschool programs are not engaging or interactive enough, many students may be initially dissuaded from participating in the program which would make gaining support and engagement difficult in the beginning stages of the intervention. Finding volunteers who are willing to help staff the program without the guarantee of payment or can further implicate the ability to successfully implement it as it is crucial to have dedicated and qualified mentors for the children to look up to and learn from. Perhaps the factor that can have the largest impact on the success of the program is the fact that participation in the afterschool program is not mandatory. Every individual has the freedom to choose if they will participate and if they will apply the things that they learn to their life. However,