Examining the effects of school-based drug prevention programs on drug use in rural settings: methodology and initial findings.

Context: Although there have been substantial advances in knowledge about drug prevention over the last decade, the majority of school-based drug prevention studies have been conducted in urban settings. There is little knowledge about the effectiveness of such programs when they are implemented in rural populations.

Purpose: To examine the prevention effects of school-based drug prevention programs implemented in rural populations.

Evaluating the evidence of effectiveness for preventive interventions: using a registry system to influence policy through science.

In order to deal with the serious problems of drug use, delinquency, and mental health problems in this country, policy makers, communities, practitioners, and advocates need to identify prevention programs that have empirical support and at the same time meet their own community needs regarding acceptability, cost, and training, and supervision. An "evidence-based" approach to prevention, one that identifies the scientific knowledge about what prevention programs work, for whom, and under what circumstances, should play a critical part in this process. The premise of this evidence-based approach is that the wide adoption of prevention programs that have been found to be successful in rigorous evaluations, will lead to successful population-based prevention strategies.