New Study Shows Long-Term Effects of Drug Prevention
May 15, 2012
A new study demonstrates the long-term effectiveness of a classroom-based prevention program targeting teen drug use. The study tracked teens who participated in Botvin LifeSkills Training (LST), a top rated prevention program, as 7th graders. It discovered that their participation in the program produced long-lasting reduction in drug use 12 years later. Participants were 23% less likely to have ever used illicit drugs than individuals were who did not participate in the LST program. They were also 22% less likely to have used marijuana and 26% less likely to have engaged in non-medical pill use (such as amphetamines, barbiturates, and tranquilizers).
"We are extremely excited by the results of this study," said Dr. Gilbert J. Botvin, an internationally renowned expert on drug abuse prevention and developer of the LST program. "This study provides still more evidence that drug use can be prevented using a classroom program taught during the early teen years. More importantly, it also shows that these effects are long-lasting." Evidence that prevention programs such as LST can produce long-lasting reductions in drug use are particularly important at a time when decreased funding is forcing educators and policy makers to carefully consider how best to allocate dwindling resources.
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Source
The Sacramento Bee