Substance use prevention aims to prevent or delay the onset of substance use, and reduce harms associated with its use.

People may use drugs for a variety of reasons:

• Illness/disease
• Physical pain
• Emotional pain/past trauma
• Curiosity
• Socialization
• Stress/anxiety/depression
• Relaxation

 Youth substance use may also increase due to:

• Marketing, advertising, and availability of a substance 
• Peer pressure and/or seeking acceptance amongst peers
• Mental Health issues such as depression and anxiety
• A family history of problems with substance use

It is important to educate your youth: see Talk with your Kids. 

Problematic Substance Use

There are various pathways that can lead to the onset of substance use and problematic substance use.  Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) is one of the pathways that can be a root cause to substance use disorder.

ACEs are stressful or traumatic experiences that occur in a person’s life before the age of 18. These traumatic experiences can create ongoing toxic stress. Toxic stress can disrupt the developing brain and can lead to multiple physical and mental health issues, including substance use disorder.

Stressful or traumatic events can occur at different levels. These include:

• Household: violence, abuse, neglect, mental illness or household dysfunction

• Community: poverty, homelessness, food insecurity

• Environmental: climate change, natural disasters, pandemics

The more ACEs a person experiences, the higher the risk of health and social problems.
ACEs are common and affect most populations.

Those who have faced substantial adversity or multiple ACEs are not beyond repair. 
Resilience, which is the ability to successfully adapt to difficult or challenging life experiences, can buffer the negative effects of ACEs and improve health outcomes. 

Meaningful activities, positive supportive relationships, and promoting mental health and well-being and healthy coping skills supports healthy brain development and helps children and youth build resilience.

Problematic substance use and substance use disorder can happen to anyone.  It is important to decrease stigma so that people can feel comfortable seeking the help and treatment they may want.