Substance Use Prevention Month

October is Substance Use Prevention Month — and we’re Telling the Prevention Story. Join SAMHSA, as partners in prevention!

  • To inspire action, each of us can share how prevention is improving lives in our communities.
  • We aim to prevent substance use in the first place, prevent the progression of use, and reduce harms. And we have the prevention playbook to do so.
  • Prevention science (with decades of research and community-based experience) shows that prevention works.
  • Prevention strengthens protective factors and reduces risk factors ― in individuals, families, schools, communities, and society.
  • Prevention helps us get ahead of substance use and mental health challenges — so that youth, families, and communities can thrive.

Prevention Month lifts up the national conversation — to showcase prevention’s positive effects on communities across the country. View the toolkit on the SAMHSA website.