Prevention Matters

A school-based prevention program that cut risky behaviors in half was named Partnership for Prevention's "Best Prevention Idea of the Week," while a congressman’s contention that tobacco is no more dangerous than lettuce was named the "Worst Prevention Idea of the week."

The Best/Worst Idea awards are a regular feature of Prevention Matters, the blog of Partnership for Prevention. Each week, Partnership for Prevention's staff will choose the designees based on nominations of items in the previous week's news submitted by members, staff and the public at large. To submit a nomination or for more information, contact Damon Thompson at dthompson@prevent.org.


BEST

School-Based Prevention Program Reduces Problem Behaviors by Half

http://www.nih.gov/news/health/jun2009/nida-18.htm

A study suggests that a school-based prevention program begun in elementary school can significantly reduce problem behaviors in students. Fifth graders who participated in Positive Action (PA), a comprehensive interactive school prevention program, for one to four years were about half as likely to engage in substance abuse, violent behavior, or sexual activity as those who did not take part in the program. The study, supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), a component of the National Institutes of Health, will appear in the August 2009 print issue of the American Journal of Public Health.



WORST

Congressman: "Smoking lettuce same as cigarettes"

http://briefingroom.thehill.com/2009/06/12/rep-buyer-smoke-some-lettuce/

Rep. Steve Buyer, R-Ind., said smoking lettuce is the same as smoking cigarettes. He says it's not the nicotine that kills, it's the smoke. In a House floor speech opposing a bill allowing the FDA to regulate tobacco Buyer said, “It's not the nicotine that kills. It's the smoke that kills. So it's the inhalation of the smoke. That's what causes and is responsible for the pandemic of cancers, of heart disease, respiratory disease, and other disease. It's the smoke." No word as to whether Buyer thinks that eating lettuce would be as bad as chewing tobacco.