Drugs in Society and Drug Prevention Programs - Essay Example

This paper analyzes four common drug prevention programs to identify the strengths that influence their effectiveness in comparison to the other programs.
Drug prevention programs that are family based is by far the most effective in fighting drug abuse. This is due to several factors. Firstly, such programs can be launched at a remarkably young stage of a family member’s life, and they can be extended for the entire life span. This is highly beneficial because this means there is sufficient time to create awareness of the risks and dangers of drug abuse among children before they reach the highly vulnerable teen years (Hammond, 2008).

Besides community-based programs, family-based programs are the only ones that have the advantage of being able to offer prevention intervention from an extremely early age. The other reason why family-based programs are effective is that those who implement these programs have sufficient time to conduct followed ups (Hammond, 2008). While all drug prevention programs may be efficient in providing the necessary drug abuse prevention education or guidance, not all can follow up on how the recipients of this guidance respond. In family-based programs, the instructors are often parents and guidance who spend vast amounts of time with their children, and hence they monitor progress made.

These follow-ups are paramount to the success of a drug prevention program because they make it easier to determine/evaluate if the person(s) being educated on drug abuse needs further guidance or clarification. The other crucial success factor of these programs is their ability to use content that is appropriate for the age of those being targeted (Hammond, 2008). The only demerit of this program is that it is dependent upon early implementation on pre-teen children since its execution in a child’s teenage years is often hindered by teenage rebellious behavior against parents and guardians (Dusenbury, 2000).

Community-based drug prevention programs are quite similar to family-based programs in terms of their promotion of culturally suitable drug prevention techniques (Mongomery & Flay, 1998). However, these programs are fundamentally unique in that they involve more stakeholders and hence their efficiency is often heightened.  Read More