Drug and alcohol abuse is a growing social and public health problem among secondary school learners in Zambia. The purpose of this article was to establish drug and alcohol abuse prevention policy guidelines used in selected secondary schools. It is an extract from one of the objectives of a PhD study. The background of the study emanates from the fact that despite escalating incidences of drug and alcohol abuse among school-going children, little was known concerning prevention policies used

more »

... n Zambia"s secondary schools. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design to collect, analyze and interpret both quantitative and qualitative data. A total number of five hundred and fourteen (514) respondents participated in the study. Using questionnaires, quantitative data was collected from learners and teachers and analyzed using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) to generate tables, graphs and percentages. Semi-structured interview and focus group discussion guides were used to collect qualitative data from Head Teachers, District Education Board Secretaries (DEBS), Drug Enforcement Commission (DEC) officers and learners, In addition, document analysis checklist was also used. Qualitative data was analyzed using thematic analysis. Thus, major themes were drawn for easy descriptions. The study found that there were no specific documents on drug and alcohol prevention policy in all the secondary schools. The elements of drug prevention policy guidelines used were in the general school rules and were punitive in nature as opposed to educational. On the basis of the study findings it is recommended that school drug policies should focus more on educational and remedial measures rather than on punitive measures.