Substance abuse, especially among adolescents, has long been an important issue in society. In light of the adverse impact of substance abuse, scholars, educators, and policy-makers have proposed different approaches to prevent and reduce such abuse. This paper investigates the effectiveness of the two prominent approaches--educational and…

Non-individualized (so-called "random") drug testing in public schools presents issues of Constitutional law on both the federal and state levels, particularly with regard to citizens' freedom from "unreasonable searches and seizures." The trend toward increasing acceptance of such testing by the courts (and particularly the U.S. Supreme Court)…

Although outcomes monitoring and the collection of other performance data holds benefits for service managers and policy makers, the extent to which these data are collected by South African substance abuse service providers is unknown. To describe (i) the extent to which substance abuse service providers in South Africa monitor and evaluate their…

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to examine the effect of a multiple high-risk behaviors prevention program applied comprehensively throughout an entire school-system involving universal, selective, and indicated levels of students at a local private high school during a 4-year period. The prevention program was created based upon the…

This document presents testimonies from a hearing discussing the drug threat in the nations schools and the issue of whether drug testing is an effective deterrent. The subcommittee conducted the hearing as part of an effort to fully understand the nations drug crisis, how it impacts different parts of our nation, and what effective drug control…

This bulletin provides an overview of substance testing, describes major indicators of the need for such testing, and summarizes the research for recent trends in substance abuse. It examines the practices of implementing a policy of controlled substance testing for appropriate categories of juveniles within the juvenile justice system. A summary…

Drug abuse in schools, and to a lesser extent, alcohol and tobacco abuse, are the topics of this report. Discussions are provided in these areas: (1) prevalence of drug abuse; (2) student attitudes and beliefs; (3) drug laws and school rules; (4) student searches and drug testing; (5) drug epidemic reaching the very young; (6) tobacco abuse; (7)…

Of 100 adolescents screened for drug use, 43% tested positive for drugs of abuse. Twenty-five percent of these adolescents entered treatment, with 8% requiring medical detoxification or inpatient treatment. Urine screening, when done for clinical rather than punitive purposes, appeared to facilitate entry into treatment. (RJM)

In this annotated bibliography of 11 publications, 4 concern student suicide: (1) the role of the school in dealing with adolescent suicide; (2) a handbook for preventing suicide that includes warning signs and suggestions to help with the grieving process when a student suicide occurs; (3) guidelines for high school suicide prevention programs;…