Substance abuse among adolescents is modeled and reinforced by the peer culture. Experimentation with drugs seems to have become a typical part of normal adolescent development. The solution to adolescent substance abuse will only be arrived at through gathering facts and designing intervention programs based on those facts. Since the two most widely used drugs are alcohol and marijuana, any intervention must at least focus on these two substances. Interventions should consider the drug, the user, and the setting and should target adolescents, peers, parents, and community leaders. Interventions must provide youth with acceptable, less self-destructive alternatives to substance abuse. Some of these alternatives include competency building, social skills enhancement, assertiveness training, drug-free activities, and anxiety management. Successful programs change both the individual and the environment. While the obvious site for intervention is at the school and most prevention programs have occurred in schools, community-wide programs are another possibility. Community interventions include the use of the media, newsletters, the dissemination of self-help manuals, grassroots organizational development, and lobbying. Great strides have been made in substance abuse prevention in the last decade. (NB)