Workbook 3.1: Prevention

Policy and organization: In France, drug prevention falls under the addictive behaviour prevention policy referring not only to illicit or licit (alcohol, tobacco and psychotropic medicines) psychoactive substances, but also other forms of addiction (gambling, gaming, doping). This strategy is a State responsibility, coordinated at central level by the Interministerial Mission for Combating Drugs and Addictive Behaviours (MILDECA) and implemented at local levels by deconcentrated services. General goals are not only to delay if not to prevent the onset of use, but also to curb addictive practices and the related abuses and risks.
The MILDECA territorial representatives ("chefs de projet") coordinate the implementation of the national prevention priorities at the local level (regions, counties, cities). They allocate credits for prevention activities, raised by a fund fed by confiscated proceeds of drug trafficking. Funding for prevention arises from the independent Regional Health Authorities (ARS), a specific fund of the French national health insurance system and, especially for a couple of years, from the Interministerial Fund for Crime Prevention (FIPD).
At local level, school prevention activities are implemented by a range of professionals. Within the area of educative health pathway for pupils, school stakeholders are involved in commissioning, planning and implementing activities. In many cases, external interveners (NGO staff and/or specialised law enforcement officers) are solicited to address pupils. School-based prevention mainly aims to develop pupils’ individual and social skills to resist drug use. [Extract]