DEA’s primary mission and responsibility as a law enforcement agency is to enforce the nation's federal drug laws.

DEA recognizes that not only reducing the quantity (supply) of drugs is essential to a safe and drug free country but also reducing the desire (demand) for illicit drugs is a vital component to effectively reduce drug use in our nation. For that reason, DEA created the Community Outreach and Prevention Support Section as a critical complement to our primary law enforcement mission and included drug use prevention as one of the seven priorities in DEA’s vision:

"Support initiatives to reduce the demand for drugs and give assistance to community coalitions and drug prevention initiatives."

DEA's Community Outreach and Prevention Support Strategy

DEA’s community outreach and prevention support strategy is to develop and disseminate effective drug information for youth and young adults, parents, caregivers, and educators, and to increase the public’s awareness about the dangers associated with using drugs. There are three major concepts of drug use prevention research at the core of this strategy:

• Parents and teens alike need to know that the brain continues to develop to age 25. In particular, the frontal cortex, which carries out mental processes such as thinking, decision making, and judgment, is not fully developed until that age; therefore, it’s vitally important that youth and young adults refrain from drug use as this use will affect brain development.
• When youth and young adults perceive that drug use is harmful and risky, drug use dramatically declines.
• The longer youth and young adults delay drug use, the less likely it is that they will develop a substance use disorder

DEA’s Community Outreach and Prevention Support Section provides the public with current and relevant drug information about illicit drug use, the misuse of prescription drugs, drug use trends, and the health consequences of drug use.

DEA’s Community Outreach and Prevention Support Section also develops drug information brochures, drug fact sheets, pamphlets, parent/teacher drug education guides, and strategic planning guides for prevention to assist the community in identifying drug use and finding help.

Another major component of the Community Outreach and Prevention Support Section is collaboration with various drug use prevention partners. These partners include other federal agencies, national and regional prevention organizations, law enforcement organizations, community coalitions, family organizations, fraternal and civic organizations, youth-serving organizations, state and local governments, and school districts. DEA supports our partners who present significant opportunities for involvement in prevention efforts by providing drug trend information at local community events as well as at national conferences and professional educational forums.