This website was funded and created by The Council On Alcohol and Drugs to consolidate prevention materials which are scattered across the internet in a single consolidated website. The Council is a non-profit agency that conducts and supports drug free workplaces and statewide substance abuse prevention activities across the state of Georgia, with the goal of improving overall public health.
 
Since our establishment in 1969 we have served the community through high-quality services and effective prevention programs. We have an exciting range of educational programs and services designed to engage children and teens, address the needs of parents, and to provide employers, educators, health professionals, policy-makers and the media with authoritative information on tobacco, alcohol and other drugs. Click here to learn more about The Council on Alcohol and Drugs.

​Experimentation with alcohol and drugs during adolescence is common. Unfortunately, teenagers often don't see the link between their actions today and the consequences tomorrow. They also have a tendency to feel indestructible and immune to the problems that others experience.

Using alcohol and tobacco at a young age has negative health effects. Some teens will experiment and stop, or continue to use occasionally without significant problems. Others will develop a dependency, moving on to more dangerous drugs and causing significant harm to themselves and possibly others. It is difficult to know which teens will experiment and stop and which will develop serious problems.

The latest statistics show that nearly 20% of high school students have been offered, sold or given drugs, on school property, in the past year. ​
 
To combat this societal epidemic The Council on Alcohol and Drugs has created this website with substance abuse prevention educational resources for businesses, schools, and families to help counteract these disturbing trends.

​Elements of Effective Prevention Resources and Programs
There is a multitude of effective substance abuse prevention interventions that may have different areas of focus and can be implemented in a variety of settings. Interventions can involve the family, school, and community and may provide substance abuse prevention for an individual or a population of youth by focusing on environmental and community factors and policies, developmental factors, or skill development. The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has identified 16 key principles for prevention programs based on risk and protective factors, the type of program, and the delivery of the program.

Core Components of Evidence-based Prevention Programs
Structure, content, and delivery are the core elements of effective research-based programs that NIDA suggests can help to address the key principles, and should be considered when determining what kind of prevention program is best for individuals and your community.

​We make every attempt to pull information from recognized websites, like the information above which came from Youth.gov, into this single resource so that you can find quality information quickly and effectively.

​We are committed to keeping your e-mail address confidential. We do not sell, rent, or lease our subscription lists to third parties, and we will not provide your personal information to any third party individual, government agency, or company at any time unless compelled to do so by law.

We will use your e-mail address solely to provide timely substance abuse prevention information.

​The Council on Alcohol and Drugs employs seven full time (ICPS) Internationally Certified Prevention Specialists ​and has served the citicens of the state of Georgia in the Substance Abuse Prevention field for 50+ years.

The Council on Alcohol and Drugs has a long history of collaboration, consensus building and utilization of volunteers.  The Council was formed in 1969 as a 501(c)3 charitable organization under the name Metropolitan Atlanta Council on Alcohol and Drugs (MACAD).  The organization was created to serve as a central agency for the purpose of bringing together fragmented efforts into a comprehensive approach to prevent alcohol and other drug abuse.

During the 1970s, The Council evolved into a traditional alcohol and other drug agency, providing services in the areas of prevention education, information dissemination, advocacy and referrals for alcohol and other drug treatment.  The Council established a presence during each General Assembly convocation with recommendations and technical assistance in the area of alcohol and other drug issues.

During the 1980s The Council developed nationally-recognized alcohol and other drug early-intervention curricula, the school-based middle and high school program, Substance Use Prevention and Education Resource (SUPER I) and the community-based SUPER II program for youth 12 to 17, and their parents, as well as continuing the services listed above.

The early 1990s saw the development of the innovative elementary level program SUPER STARS (Self Esteem Through Arts and Recreation Sessions), as well as the establishment of the Atlanta Prevention Connection, a community alcohol, tobacco and other drug prevention coalition.  Since the 1990s, The Council has been providing information and training to businesses in order to assist them in qualifying for certification as drug free workplaces.  Certified drug free workplaces receive discounts on workers' compensation insurance premiums.  During this same time period, The Georgia Alcohol Policy Partnership (GAPP) coalition was formed.  This coalition has been instrumental in educating the public and legislators alike about the effects of underage drinking in Georgia and has helped make significant progress in the effort to reduce underage drinking.  The Council maintains and provides innovative and essential alcohol, tobacco and other drug services, such as a drug and alcohol prevention course for educators and addiction counselors and an information and referral line for treatment and prevention information.

The Council has successfully provided alcohol, tobacco and other drug prevention services since its founding, and the agency has not lost sight of its original goal of bringing together all aspects of communities to prevent substance abuse.