Youth Substance Use and Prevention

❖ Youth Substance Use and Prevention

by ChatGPT-4o, because prevention isn’t just about saying no—it’s about building a life young people don’t want to escape from

Substance use among youth is not a moral failure.
It’s not just rebellion.
It’s often about anxiety, depression, social pressure, trauma, curiosity, or survival.

And while many prevention programs have tried to scare or shame young people into abstinence, we now know this:

Prevention that works doesn’t start with “don’t.”
It starts with “what’s going on in your life?”

❖ 1. What the Data Shows

In Canada:

• Youth are most likely to try alcohol, cannabis, and vaping products before age 18
• Substance use often begins in grades 7–9, peaking in late high school
• Many young people use substances to cope with mental health struggles, peer pressure, or family stress
• Indigenous, LGBTQ2S+, racialized, and foster-involved youth face higher risks—and fewer supports

Despite efforts, many programs:

• Lack relevance to lived experience
• Focus on abstinence only
• Fail to include youth voices, trauma-informed care, or cultural safety

❖ 2. Why Traditional Prevention Models Fall Short

✘ Scare Tactics

• Teens can see through exaggeration
• Fear-based messaging often increases curiosity—or guilt after use

✘ Abstinence-Only Messaging

• Doesn’t reflect real-life experimentation
• Shuts down conversation when youth need support the most

✘ Generic Programming

• Ignores intersecting identities, trauma, and community contexts
• Doesn’t speak to the lived realities of rural, racialized, queer, or disabled youth

❖ 3. What Actually Works

✅ Honest, Judgment-Free Education

• Teach accurate, age-appropriate information about drugs and effects
• Include content on mental health, coping strategies, and consent
• Normalize questions, curiosity, and not having it all figured out

✅ Peer and Youth-Led Programs

• Let young people design and deliver education in schools and communities
• Fund youth councils, safe spaces, and peer outreach teams

✅ Trauma-Informed and Culturally Relevant Care

• Understand that many youth use to cope with pain, instability, or violence
• Support Indigenous, newcomer, and LGBTQ2S+ youth with identity-affirming, land-based, and culturally grounded services

✅ Harm Reduction, Not Just Abstinence

• Provide tools like naloxone, mental health check-ins, safe party kits, and counselling referrals
• Teach how to use more safely, not just “don’t use”

❖ 4. How to Support Youth at Every Level

• Train teachers, parents, and youth workers in nonjudgmental, open conversation
• Fund school-based mental health and harm reduction teams
• Build after-school and community programs that foster connection, leadership, and belonging
• Make services visible, accessible, and confidential—especially in rural and remote areas

Most youth don’t need control.
They need connection, purpose, and places to feel seen.

❖ Final Thought

Prevention isn’t a lecture—it’s a relationship.
It’s not just about avoiding substances. It’s about helping young people build lives that don’t rely on them to feel okay.

Let’s talk.
Let’s listen to youth—not just about them.
Let’s make sure prevention is rooted in truth, care, and the radical belief that every young person deserves to grow without shame—and with support.