Prevention
of Harm from Illicit Drugs
The prevention of drug-related problems is a huge topic, as can be
seen by browsing through PREVLINE
(DHS and SAMSHA's clearinghouse for alcohol and drug information). As
this page is being written (Summer 2005), San Francisco is in the midst
of two large planning processes that will influence the way that alcohol-related
problems might be prevented. The first of these planning processes is
the work of the prevention subcommittee of the Mental
Health Services Act (California Proposition 63), which will be completed
during the Fall of 2005. The second is the development of a Substance
Abuse Prevention Strategic Plan, which will take place between July
2005 and January 2006. Both of these planning processes will be informed
and guided by the San Francisco Department of Public Health's Prevention
Strategic Plan.
Accordingly, the comments below emphasize environmental approaches,
recognizing, as Geoffrey Rose pointed out in his classic paper "Sick
Individuals and Sick Populations," that the "high risk"
approach to prevention, carried out in clinical settings, and the "population
approach," which seeks to control the causes of incidence, are
complementary. In short, there is a spectrum
of prevention.
Environmental
Approaches
SAMSHA maintains an inventory of model
programs (as well as evidence-based and promising programs). These
vary widely in their focus and approach.
The San Francisco Department of Public Health's Community
Action Model, which is currently under review for SAMSHA recognition,
has been used primarily for tobacco work but has been incorporated
into the SAMSHA-funded YouthPower
project. The YouthPower project utilizes environmental prevention
strategies to reduce alcohol and marijuana use among middle and high
school-age youth in San Francisco’s Bayview Hunters Point. The
Community Action Model was recently described in the American
Journal of Public Health.
Small grants to community organizations are often a useful means
means of preventing alcohol and other drug problems [PDF]
Prevention by Design's Taking Charge: Managing Community Alcohol
& Drug Risk Environments: An Action Guide to Help California Cities
Reduce Risk in Alcohol and Drug Problem Environments is evidence-based,
and Prevention
by Design has been contracted by the California Department of
Alcohol and Drug Programs to assist us in this process. This guide
employs sound public health practices and is compatible with the Department's
Prevention Strategic Plan.
