The Partnership at Drugfree.org is a 501 (c) (3) nonprofit organization. We are not part of any government agency.

The Partnership at Drugfree.org accepts no funding nor in-kind services from alcohol or tobacco companies.

As part of The Medicine Abuse Project, our multi-year national action campaign to prevent 500,000 teens from abusing medicine within five years, The Partnership at Drugfree.org works with numerous nonprofit and association partners and funders to educate parents and the public at large about what they can do to prevent teen abuse of medicine. These partners include the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Office of National Drug Control Policy, as well as a number of pharmaceutical companies concerned about the misuse and abuse of over-the-counter cough medicine and prescription drugs. These funders provide The Partnership at Drugfree.org with unrestricted educational grants for research on prescription drug abuse, for web-based educational modules and for community education programs delivered at the grassroots level.

There is no relation. Drug Free America Foundation, Inc. is a drug prevention and policy organization based in Florida. Their site can be found at http://www.dfaf.org.

No. The Partnership at Drugfree.org helped secure Congressional support for the National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign (NYADMC) in 1998, and worked on the Campaign — on an unpaid, unreimbursed basis — between 1998 and 2008. Our contribution to that effort, in terms of staff time, travel expenses, value of advertising content and waived talent payments has exceeded $60 million dollars. Since July 2009, we have been reimbursed for actual costs of travel and staff time related to the NYADMC — a total of $80,360 in 2009.

Legalization of marijuana does not change the reality that use of marijuana, alcohol or any drug in adolescence poses risks to childhood brain development and significantly increases the likelihood of progression to addiction.

What legalization may well increase is the availability of marijuana to teens – and the kind of aggressive marketing to underage users that alcohol and tobacco companies have consistently engaged in – to the clear detriment of young people’s health and well-being. 

In the interest of protecting kids, and based on the perspective of parents, we believe that adding marijuana to the menu of legally available substances and marketed products will make it more likely that kids will use it. The need for education, prevention and guidance toward effective treatment increases dramatically with legalized marijuana. Our role in motivating and equipping parents to prevent or get help with a child’s involvement with drugs does not diminish, but instead becomes all the more important.

From this perspective, The Partnership at Drugfree.org does not support legalized and marketed marijuana.

The Partnership at Drugfree.org is compassionate toward those who are struggling with serious illness, and we know that some have reported finding relief from smoked marijuana. We know marijuana can be harmful, especially to kids whose brains are still developing, and we believe that medicine should be researched, reviewed and approved through the FDA process, not referendum.

In talking and engaging with parents — on our website, at our community education trainings and via our grassroots partners and parent advisors — we know they are looking for help. And parents are finding the help they need through our programs and at drugfree.org.

With these insights, we changed our name, The Partnership at Drugfree.org, and also changed our mission: to help parents prevent, intervene in and find treatment for drug and alcohol use by their children. Our new name and mission offer us a greater relevancy and engagement among parents and caregivers. And, with the debut and expansion of our programs and resources, we have evolved to a place where we can uniquely be a trusted partner to all parents, whether they’re focused on prevention, stopping a child’s drug or alcohol use, finding treatment or supporting a child in recovery.

Yes, we changed our name to The Partnership at Drugfree.org in 2010. In the course of our 26-year history, our mission has also evolved, moving from prevention to also focus on intervention, treatment and recovery, and direct services like our Parents Toll-Free Helpline, our Community Education programs and digital resources. We are working toward a vision where all young people will be able to live their lives free of drug and alcohol abuse.