Many interventions that are typically used in drug courts may be ineffective or contraindicated for clients who do not have a diagnosable or clinically significant substance use disorder. Some clients may require a diametrically opposed intervention scheme. Best-practice standards in the substance abuse field state that they would be better suited to a secondary prevention approach. Drug court clients who are low risk are an example of a population for which secondary prevention strategies would be most appropriate. These clients have engaged in problematic behaviors, such as drug use but have not yet developed a clinical syndrome. A proposed conceptual model for explaining the process of addiction suggests how prevention strategies should vary according to where a client is in the process of acquiring addictive behaviors. This conceptual model points to concrete strategies that may be used to interrupt the development of addictive behavior at various stages in the acquisition process. References