The goal of the STOP Project was to facilitate activities to help young people develop the skills necessary to fight drug and alcohol use. Students were recruited to study the risks of substance abuse and then practice role-playing exercises relating to this issue. Training was extensive and included workshops on group goals and rules, workshop planning, role playing as a learning tool, trust building, self-esteem, communications, decision-making and problem-solving, protective and risk factors, family relationships, anger and stress management, and overcoming peer pressure. Following this process, STOP Team Members developed and then led experience-based, participatory role-playing workshops for their fellow students as well as youth participants from a local community center. In addition to facilitating workshops, Team Members utilized their leadership skills in a wide range of community service and advocacy efforts. Young people’s attitudes about drugs and alcohol changed as a result of program participation and they strengthened their understanding of the importance of rejecting substance abuse in favor of positive youth development and educational options. Young people became empowered through program participation and increased their problem-solving and decision-making skills as well as the confidence necessary to overcome negative peer pressure regarding substance abuse. They developed leadership skills and increased their sense of community ownership and personal responsibility. A total of 561 South Brooklyn residents were involved in and positively affected by the STOP Project during 1988.