Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) represents over 5,000 member coalitions who are on the front lines of preventing and reducing the use and misuse of drugs by youth across the country. For over two decades, CADCA coalitions have united communities in addressing and preventing underage alcohol use, tobacco, illicit drugs, and the misuse of prescription and over-the-counter drugs. 

CADCA’s Public Policy efforts ensure that community anti-drug coalitions’ voices are heard on Capitol Hill. Substance misuse is a multi-dimensional problem that demands comprehensive, coordinated solutions, and CADCA’s legislative agenda reflects this. 

CADCA is the nation’s leading national non-profit for the field of substance misuse prevention. In the 116th Congress, CADCA maintains the following general principles for federal legislation, regulations, policies, and directives with the goal of making every community safe, healthy, and drug-free: 

  • CADCA supports legislation that takes a public health approach to tackling the issues of underage drinking, tobacco, and youth drug misuse, treatment and recovery. CADCA advocates for prevention strategies grounded in community engagement that have proven effective in substantially reducing youth substance use rates on a population level and supports policies that reflect this prevention approach. 

  • CADCA supports policies that prevent and delay children and young adults from using illicit drugs, underage drinking, tobacco use, synthetic drugs, misuse of prescription and over the counter drugs and all other emerging drug trends.  

  • CADCA recognizes that the best tool to combat the terrible economic, social, and human costs of drug misuse is to prevent it from ever starting, and actively supports legislation that includes substance use prevention strategies. CADCA recognizes the leading role that coalitions play in drug prevention, a critical and highly-effective strategy for creating healthy and drug-free communities. CADCA also supports legislation that utilizes effective approaches to address the full continuum of substance misuse to include education, prevention, treatment, recovery support, and overdose reversal as well as research into all these areas. 

  • CADCA supports adequate funding for all federal agencies and programs that promote substance misuse prevention, treatment, recovery support and research.