Drug prevention in Zuni, New Mexico: creation of a teen center as an alternative to alcohol and drug use.

In 1991, the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention of the Department of Health and Human Services funded a project to develop alcohol prevention-oriented messages targeting teenagers of the Zuni Tribe in New Mexico. A lengthy needs assessment determined that alcohol was the most serious drug problem on the pueblo, and that Zuni teenagers often resorted to alcohol and other drug use because they had little else to do during their free time. Communication products were developed which publicized and promoted the creation of a Zuni Teen Center as a fun and safe alternative to drug use. These products, then, are serving as a catalyst for mobilizing the Zuni community around the cause of preventing alcohol use and abuse among their teens via the conversion of an old warehouse to a Zuni Teen Center. The following article describes the needs assessment, product development and distribution, and evaluation of the project's success.