This guide is the culmination of a two-year project to assess existing guidance in drug prevention and to meet the need for a commonly agreed European framework to improve it in the European Union. Over 400 international, European and national experts and stakeholders contributed to developing the standards via a dynamic process involving focus groups, consultations and studies.

Entitled “European drug prevention quality standards: a manual for prevention professionals”, this new guide constitutes the first European how to manual on the way to conduct a high-quality drug prevention programme. In order to bridge the gap between science, policy and practice, the European Commission has supported the European drug prevention quality standards project leaded by British Liverpool John Moores University. The project proceeded in collaboration with partner organisations across Europe, and built upon academic and applied research conducted by the applicants at national and EU level over the previous years.

At the time of beginning the project, drug prevention quality standards were available only in some Member States of the EU. The available guidance varied in terms of its content, methodological rigour, and applicability beyond the regional/national context. Now, the new manual summarises current evidence on how to conduct good drug prevention in the EU in order to achieve a similar level of high quality, while acknowledging diversity of practice.

The standards contained in this new guide launched by the European Monitoring Centre for Drugs and Drug Addiction (EMCDDA) are designed to be of interest to all professionals who, directly or indirectly, contribute to drug prevention, would they be psychologists, social workers, teachers, policymakers, service managers, police. They outline the necessary steps to be taken when planning, conducting or evaluating drug prevention programmes and can be used to inform prevention strategy, enhance professional development and assess and develop the organisations providing prevention services. They can be applied to a wide range of drug prevention activities, settings and target populations, regardless of the duration of the programme.