To guide the state’s vision and priorities for substance use prevention, Connecticut’s DMHAS funds a variety of organizational structures and efforts for resource dissemination and evaluation work.
As the opioid crisis continues to evolve, efforts to educate communities on the dangers of substance use and resources on overdose prevention are needed to curb rising rates of drug-related overdoses. Driven by the increased lethality of fentanyl in the drug supply, adolescent overdose deaths more than doubled between 2019 and 2021, even as the rate of adolescent drug use remained steady.
According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, substance use prevention “seeks to prevent problems before they start [by] preventing exposure to substances (or screening and intervening with early misuse), reducing risk factors, and strengthening protective factors at the individual, relationship, community, and society levels. Prevention also seeks to stop or delay the progression of substance use to a substance use disorder, as well as prevent other harms associated with substance use.”
Tags: Drug Strategy Harm Reduction Opioid Epidemic
