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Introduction Adolescence sets the stage for adulthood. Teens make decisions and develop habits that have life-long consequences. Some of the most important have to do with the use of alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. Cigarette smoking is the single greatest cause of preventable death, and is a habit that nearly always begins in adolescence. Heavy drinking among students has been linked to physical fighting, vandalism, and academic problems. Drug use has been shown to harm psychological and physical health, lower school performance, and to increase involvement with law enforcement authorities.(1) Furthermore, research has shown that drug use progresses in stages beginning with tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, and then moving to "harder" drugs.(2) Therefore, every substance abuse problem is a potentially serious problem. We will focus on one effective means of addressing adolescent substance use and abuse: Student Assistance Programs (SAP's). SAP's consist of trained student assistance counselors, student assistance teams, or both. SAP counselors and teams give educational presentations that help prevent substance use, identify students with problems, coordinate support groups to help students cope with substance use, and may refer students to community programs for treatment. By being located within the school, SAP's help to build better linkages among students, their families, school personnel, and community service agencies.
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