Fifth grade students who took part in comprehensive, interactive school-based prevention programs starting as early as first grade were half as likely as their peers to use alcohol or other drugs, act violently, or engage in sexual activity, according to a new study from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)."The fact that an intervention beginning in first grade produced a significant effect on children's behavior in the fifth grade strengthens the case for initiating prevention programs in elementary school, before most children have begun to engage in problem behaviors," says NIDA Director Nora Volkow.
