NEED FOR A SCIENTIFIC BASIS FOR ALCOHOL-INVOLVED PROBLEM PREVENTION INCLUDING A CONSIDERATION OF COST AND EFFECTIVENESS

This editorial calls for two priorities for alcohol and drug ''abuse'' prevention in the Year 2000. First, all prevention programs and polic ies should be required to demonstrate scientific evidence of potential effectiveness before public or private funds are committed. This evid ence can be based upon controlled, fully replicated research, or early evidence, not fully replicated, or even a causal theory which is supp orted by basic research. Second, the cost/effectiveness of prevention programs and policies should be determined. This requires a documentat ion of actual costs of design and implementation as well as a determin ation of any reduction of alcohol and drug-use(r)-associated problems resulting from purposeful prevention activity.