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Chapter II.
Demand Reduction Goals, Objectives and Target Measurement
C. Demand Reduction Goals, Objectives and Rationale
Demand reduction is integral to three of the five goals: Goal 1, Goal 2, and Goal 3. Associated with each of these Goals are a number of objectives, targets, and measures. The relationship is shown in Figure 7 and the following section outlines the objectives for each demand reduction goal.
Performance Measurement Framework
Figure 7
Goals and Objectives
GOAL 1: Educate and enable America’s youth to reject illegal drugs as well as alcohol and tobacco.
Objective 1: Educate parents or other care givers, teachers, coaches, clergy, health professionals, and business and community leaders to help youth reject illegal drugs and underage alcohol and tobacco use.
Rationale: Values, attitudes, and behavior are forged by families and communities. Alcohol, tobacco, and drug-prevention for youngsters is most successful when parents and other concerned adults are involved. Information and resources must be provided to adults who serve as role models for children so that young people will learn about the consequences of drug abuse.
Objective 2: Pursue a vigorous advertising and public communications program dealing with the dangers of illegal drugs, including alcohol and tobacco use by youth.
Rationale: Anti-drug messages conveyed through multiple outlets have proven effective in increasing knowledge and changing attitudes about drugs. The trend over the past six years of a decreased perception of risk connected to drug use among all adolescents correlates with a drop in the frequency of anti-drug messages in the media and an increase in images that normalize drug use. Anti-drug publicity by the private sector and non-profit organizations must be reinforced by a federally funded campaign to change young people's attitudes about illegal drugs.
Objective 3: Promote zero tolerance policies for youth regarding the use of illegal drugs, alcohol, and tobacco within the family, school, workplace, and community.
Rationale: Children are less likely to use illegal drugs or illicit substances if such activity is discouraged throughout society. Prevention programs in schools, workplaces, and communities have already demonstrated effectiveness in reducing drug use. Such success must be increased by concerted efforts that involve multiple sectors of a community working together.
Objective 4: Provide students in grades K- 12 with alcohol, tobacco, and other drug prevention programs and policies that are evaluated, tested and are based on sound practices and procedures.
Rationale: The federal government is uniquely equipped to help state and local governments and communities gather and disseminate information on successful approaches to the problem of drug abuse.
Objective 5: Support parents and adult mentors in encouraging youth to engage in positive, healthy lifestyles and modeling behavior to be emulated by young people.
Rationale: Children listen most to adults they know and love. Providing parents with resources to help their children refrain from using alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs is a wise investment. Mentoring programs also contribute to creating bonds of respect between youngsters and adults, which can help young people, resist drugs.
Objective 6: Encourage and assist the development of community coalitions and programs in preventing drug abuse and underage alcohol and tobacco use.
Rationale: Communities are logical places to form public-private coalitions that can influence young people's attitudes toward drugs, alcohol, and tobacco. More than 4,300 groups around the country have already established broad community-based anti-drug efforts.
Objective 7: Create partnerships with the media, entertainment industry, and professional sports organizations to avoid the glamorization, condoning, or normalization of illegal drugs and the use of alcohol and tobacco by youth.
Rationale: Discouraging drug abuse depends on factual anti-drug messages being delivered consistently throughout our society. Celebrities who are positive role models can convey accurate information about the benefits of staying drug-free.
Objective 8: Support and disseminate scientific research and data on the consequences of legalizing drugs.
Rationale: Drug policy should be based on science, not ideology. We must understand that control of substances that are likely to be abused is based on scientific studies and intended to protect public health.
Objective 9: Develop and implement a set of principles upon which prevention programming can be based.
Rationale: Drug prevention must be research-based. Prevention programs must also take into account the constantly evolving drug situation, risk factors students face, and community-specific problems.
Objective 10: Support and highlight research, including the development of scientific information, to inform drug, alcohol, and tobacco prevention programs targeting young Americans.
Rationale: Reliable prevention programs must be based on programs that have been proven effective. We must influence youth attitudes and actions positively and share successful techniques with other concerned organizations.
GOAL 2: Increase the safety of America's citizens by substantially reducing drug-related crime and violence.
Objective 4: Develop, refine, and implement effective rehabilitative programs -- including graduated sanctions, supervised release, and treatment for drug-abusing offenders and accused persons -- at all stages within the criminal justice system.
Rationale: The majority of offenders arrested each year have substance abuse problems, and significant percentages are chronic substance abusers. This interface provides an opportunity to motivate addicts to stop using drugs.
Objective 5: Break the cycle of drug abuse and crime.
Rationale: Our nation has an obligation to assist all who come in contact with the criminal- justice system to become drug-free. Recidivism rates for inmates given treatment declines substantially. The reduction of drug abuse among persons touched by the criminal-justice system, crime will decrease.
Objective 6: Support and highlight research, including the development of scientific information and data, to inform law enforcement, prosecution, incarceration, and treatment of offenders involved with illegal drugs.
Rationale: Law-enforcement programs and policies must be informed by updated research. When success is attained in one community, it should be analyzed quickly and thoroughly so that the lessons learned can be applied elsewhere.
GOAL 3: Reduce health and social costs to the public of illegal drug use.
Objective 1: Support and promote effective, efficient, and accessible drug treatment, ensuring the development of a system that is responsive to emerging trends in drug abuse.
Rationale: A significant number of American citizens have been debilitated by drug abuse. Illness, dysfunctional families, and reduced productivity are costly by-products of drug abuse. Effective treatment is a sound method of reducing the health and social costs of illegal drugs.
Objective 2: Reduce drug-related health problems, with an emphasis on infectious diseases.
Rationale: Drug users, particularly injecting users, put themselves, their children, and those with whom they are intimate at higher risk of contracting infectious diseases like HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, syphilis, gonorrhea, and tuberculosis.
Objective 3: Promote national adoption of drug-free workplace programs that emphasize a comprehensive program that includes: drug testing, education, prevention, and intervention.
Rationale: Drug abuse decreases productivity. Approximately three-quarters of adult drug users are employed. Workplace policies and programs, such as drug testing and Employee Assistance Programs that include prevention, intervention, and referral to treatment can reduce drug use.
Objective 4: Support and promote the education, training, and credentialing of professionals who work with substance abusers.
Rationale: Many community-based treatment providers currently lack professional certification. The commitment and on-the-job training of these workers should be respected by a flexible credentialing system that recognizes first-hand experience even as standards are being developed.
Objective 5: Support research into the development of medications and treatment protocols to prevent or reduce drug dependence and abuse.
Rationale: The more we understand about the neurobiology and neurochemistry of addiction, the better will be our capability to design interventions. Pharmacotherapies may be effective against cocaine, methamphetamine, and other addictive drugs. Research and evaluation may broaden treatment options, which currently include detoxification, counseling, psychotherapy, and self-help groups.
Objective 6: Support and highlight research and technology, including the acquisition and analysis of scientific data, to reduce the health and social costs of illegal drug use.
Rationale: Efforts to reduce the cost of drug abuse must be based on scientific data. Therefore, federal, state, and local leaders should be given accurate, objective information about treatment modalities.
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