Prevention - Alcohol, Tobacco, and other drugs

Substance abuse takes an immense financial, physical, and emotional toll on families, individuals, and society. EDC takes a "public health" approach to substance abuse, focusing on solutions that: encourage policymakers to establish laws and regulations; counteract social norms that encourage substance abuse; encourage the enforcement of laws and rules regarding substance abuse; aim to change individual behavior through education.

Tackling Underage Drinking Town Hall Meeting

NECAPT, part of The Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP), hosted a regional workshop regarding Town Hall Meetings on Underage Drinking on January 18, 2006. Participants in the January 18th workshop gained skills in how to run town hall meetings and how to use AD council public service announcements. This workshop prepared states for the Town Hall Meetings on Underage Drinking held in March 2006.

College Bound, Safe and Sound?

Most violence on campuses comes from within the community itself. EDC works with colleges and universities to keep students safe.

EDC Staffer on New Mass. Drug Law

EDC’s Diane Barry discusses Massachusetts’ new marijuana law which lowers the penalty for possessing the drug.

Communities Take a Close Look at Drug and Alcohol Use

EDC is working with 18 Boston-area towns to collect information on youth drinking and drug use and to help inform responses that will work.

A Closer Look at Drug and Alcohol Use

When communities set out to reduce teen alcohol and drug use, they are often hampered by a lack of understanding and denial about the problems. EDC is working with 18 Boston-area towns to collect information on youth drinking and drug use and to help inform responses that will work.

College Tobacco Prevention Resource

The College Tobacco Prevention Resource is a Web site that provides practical information, ideas, and guidance to college leaders involved with tobacco prevention. The site describes a comprehensive approach to prevention that combines traditional education and cessation programs with efforts to create a physical, social, and policy environment that supports tobacco-free campuses. The goal of the site is to provide resources to assist with the planning, implementation, and evaluation of effective campus tobacco policies and programs.

Smoking in Economically Distressed Communities

A new study by researchers at EDC’s Center for Research on High Risk Behaviors offers insights into factors that may promote smoking prevention and cessation among young women in economically distressed communities.

Campus-Level Costs of Tobacco Use

In recent years, as tobacco use rates among teens and adults have dropped or remained stable, tobacco use among college students has risen. To combat this disturbing trend, some institutions of higher education have implemented policies to restrict smoking on campuses. This project aims to encourage more institutions to take such actions by identifying costs savings and other benefits that colleges can realize by implementing strong tobacco control measures.

Home Away from Home

Colleges and universities nationwide are working continually to keep safe the nearly 16 million students who live and learn on their campuses. Events such as the shooting tragedy at Virginia Tech and the renewed debate about lowering the drinking age from 21 to 18 have made the discussions about campus health and safety issues more urgent than ever.

Communities Build Hope

In the last decade, the number of American Indian and Native Alaskan children has doubled, with 34 percent of the total population now under the age of 18. This boom brings hope as well as challenges to tribal communities, where rates of youth delinquency, dropout, alcoholism, and violence are among the highest in the United States.