Prevention

year to middle or junior high school. It is initiated with a school program and is followed by media coverage and programming, parent education and organization, community organization, and policy change. The primary emphasis of the program is on the prevention of alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana use, which are considered “gateway ” drugs (in other words, experimentation with these drugs usually precedes use of other illicit drugs). Project STAR has been proven effective in reducing gateway drug use among adolescents and in reducing illicit drug use in young adulthood. There have also been positive effects of the program on other problem behaviors such as dropping out of school, single pregnancy, being fired from work, and needing treatment for alcohol and drug abuse. This chapter will begin with a brief introduction to terms relevant to our discussion, continue with a detailed description of the Project STAR components, the theoretical rationale for the program, and the research that supports the effectiveness of Project STAR in preventing drug abuse, and finish with recommendations for moving from research to practice