International standards on drug use prevention: the future of drug use prevention world-wide

Over the past 40 years much progress has been made in understanding the aetiology, onset and progression of drug using behaviours, and the effective prevention and treatment of drug use and drug use disorders. Many attempts have been made to summarise this knowledge base and disseminate it so that it is implemented in communities and for people who are in need. These attempts have not been totally effective. This paper reports on initial developmental work by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime aimed toward the dissemination and adoption of evidence-based prevention interventions and policies for drug use, the International Standards on Drug Use Prevention. While the Standards document represents progress in the application of rigorous criteria to drug use prevention programming, there remains much more that needs to be done. Not only is there a need to diffuse evidence-based prevention practices internationally but also to sustain the foundational research to allow for continuous improvements over time and to institutionalise the field of prevention science at the practice level. Recommendations for such efforts are discussed. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4038/ijptsud.v1i2.7687 International Journal of Prevention and Treatment of Substance Use Disorders 2014;1(2):6-27