About Us

One Choice Prevention works to normalize substance non-use for youth.

Analogous to other health standards (e.g., wearing bicycle helmets, eating healthy foods), the goal of primary prevention is One Choice: no use of any alcohol, nicotine, cannabis/THC, or other drugs by youth before age 21 for reasons of health.

To achieve this goal, our team connects with community-based prevention organizations nationwide – and beyond – to help them integrate the One Choice message and supporting data into their existing prevention initiatives.

One Choice Prevention is an initiative of the Institute for Behavior and Health, Inc. (IBH), a 501(c)3 non-profit research and policy organization that works to reduce illicit drug use and improve the prevention and treatment of substance use disorders. IBH was founded in 1978 by Robert L. DuPont, MD, who previously served as Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and second White House Drug Czar.

Mission & Vision

We envision a culture that normalizes substance non-use for youth. Reframing the goal of primary prevention as One Choice: no use of any alcohol, nicotine, cannabis/THC, or other illicit drugs by youth under 21 is rooted in the science of the developing brain which is uniquely vulnerable to substance use; recognizes for teens substance use is all related; and highlights national data showing a growing percentage of young people are making One Choice.

Our mission is to partner with individual prevention leaders, youth-facing healthcare providers, and community-based prevention organizations to help them integrate the One Choice message and supporting data into their existing prevention initiatives and priorities.

We convene an ever-expanding One Choice Community that collaborates to create new prevention materials and campaigns that are accessible to all.

Our Core Values

One Choice Prevention identifies substance use prevention as a health priority.

Substance use disorder (SUD) is now understood to be a pediatric-onset disease: 9 in 10 adults with an SUD initiated substance use before age 18. The earlier a person starts using substances and the heavier the use, the more likely a person will subsequently develop an SUD. Postponing initiation to substance use to 21 dramatically decreases the risk of addiction.

One Choice Prevention amplifies the voices of young people who are advocates for their health and the health of their peers.

A growing percentage of American youth are making the choice not to use any substances. MTF Table of NON-USE (past month). One Choice Prevention emphasizes the importance of incorporating youth voice whenever possible through offering leadership opportunities and seeking their input on prevention materials.

One Choice bolsters and supports all community-based prevention efforts.

The One Choice framework for youth substance use prevention complements – and does not compete with – other prevention programming or initiatives.

One Choice breaks down substance use silos, highlighting the fact that for teens, all substance use is closely connected.

Youth who use any one substance - alcohol, cannabis, or nicotine - are dramatically more likely to use the other two substances and other illicit drugs. At the same time, youth who do not use any one substance are far less likely to use other substances. Hence, for many youth, substance use may come down to “One Choice.”

One Choice recognizes the substance use-mental health connection.

A recent study of over 15K teens in Massachusetts showed that use of alcohol, cannabis, and nicotine use are “each associated with an increased prevalence of suicidal thoughts as well as depression/ anxiety symptoms, psychotic experiences, and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder symptoms.” Another study of nationally representative data on youth aged 12-17 showed that teens with cannabis use disorder had a higher rate of depression and suicidal thoughts than did those who didn’t use marijuana. Teens who used cannabis occasionally but were not addicted also had a higher prevalence of depression and suicidal thoughts than those who didn’t use.

One Choice is a health standard, not a purity test.

If a friend didn’t use their seatbelt on Saturday night, would you say to them on Sunday morning, “I’m sorry you don’t use seatbelts anymore”? No, of course not. You can always make a different choice for your health - whether it’s using a seatbelt, wearing a bicycle helmet, eating healthy foods, or choosing not to use alcohol or other drugs.

Meet the Team

IBH EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Ms. Shea has held several positions at the Institute for Behavior and Health since joining the organization in 2007 and now serves as Executive Director. She is responsible for the management of drug policy initiatives and projects related to the IBH priorities, including managing the One Choice Prevention Community. She directs the writing of research manuscripts, reports, and journal articles. She earned her MA and BA from The George Washington University..

PREVENTION CONSULTANT
Ms. Pasquale is Co-founder and Coalition Coordinator of RyeACT Coalition, a DFC Prevention coalition in Rye, NY. Her professional background is in human resources development and curriculum design, and she served as an elected Trustee of the Rye City School District Board of Education. Ms. Pasquale is a founding member of the One Choice Community, in partnership with the Institute for Behavior and Health, for whom she serves as a Prevention Consultant, frequently presenting at national and regional professional conferences and serving as a youth engagement expert. She is certified by the National Council for Mental Wellbeing as an instructor of Youth and Teen Mental Health First Aid and SPF Application for Prevention Success Training (SAPST). Ms. Pasquale oversees all programmatic aspects of RyeACT’s operations and serves as Co-Advisor of the Youth Action Team, working directly with high school and middle school youth leaders. Under her stewardship, RyeACT has been recognized by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) for exemplary leadership in youth prevention.

IBH PRESIDENT
Dr. DuPont has been a leader in substance use disorder treatment and prevention for over 50 years. He was the first Director of the US National Institute on Drug Abuse and the second White House Drug Chief. Prior to public service, he was Director of Community Services for the District of Columbia Department of Corrections and previously served as Administrator of the District of Columbia Narcotics Treatment Administration. In 1978, he became the founding President of the Institute for Behavior and Health.

A graduate of Emory University, Dr. DuPont received an MD degree in 1963 from the Harvard Medical School. He completed his psychiatric training at Harvard and the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. In 2024, Dr. DuPont retired from private psychiatry practice, where he specialized in addiction and anxiety disorders. Dr. DuPont has written over 400 professional articles and 15 books and monographs for publication on a variety of health-related subjects. In 2018, he authored his most recent book, Chemical Slavery: Understanding Addiction and Stopping the Drug Epidemic.

IBH VICE PRESIDENT
Dr. DuPont is Vice President of the Institute for Behavior and Health. Formerly she was the founding President and Principal Investigator of DuPont Clinical Research, Inc., where she directed a team that conducted studies of investigational medication for the anxiety and affective disorders. She maintains a private practice specializing in anxiety and addiction.
Dr. DuPont received her MD from the University of Texas Health Sciences Center, Houston and completed her training at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore, where for years she held an appointment on the clinical faculty of psychiatry. She is board certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and by the American Board of Addiction Medicine. She is the co-author of numerous publications and several book chapters on anxiety and addiction.

One Choice Community (OCC)

The OCC is a growing collaborative of prevention organizations, coalitions, and individual leaders who have integrated the One Choice prevention message into their own prevention initiatives. Join the OCC today to contribute to our work!

The Institute for Behavior and Health published original analyses of youth substance use behavior using nationally representative samples of data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) and Monitoring the Future (MTF):

Using NSDUH data, we showed that for youth aged 12-17, the use of any one substance (alcohol, marijuana, cigarettes) increased the risk of using the other two substances and other illicit drugs. Similarly, not using any single substance dramatically reduced the risk of using other substances. Hence, for youth, substance use is closely connected - regardless of order of initiation.

Using MTF data, we showed that an increasing percentage of high school seniors have reported substance non-use, both in the past month and lifetime – a positive trend four decades in the making. Youth in grades 10 and 8 report even greater rates of substance non-use. Thanks to our analyses, MTF researchers have added a non-use category in its published monographs: no use of any alcohol, marijuana, nicotine products, or vaping:

Relevant publications:

● DuPont, R. L., DuPont, C., & Shea, C. (2022). One Choice for health: a data-informed, youth-driven prevention message. 8th WFAD’s World Forum & 27th ECAD’s Mayors’ Conference, Gothenburg, Sweden. WILL POST A PDF OF THIS.

● DuPont, R. L., & Levy, S. (2020). The nation’s drug problem is commercial recreational pharmacology [From the Field]. Alcoholism & Drug Abuse Weekly, 32(35), 3-7.

● Levy, S., Campbell, M. C., Shea, C. L., DuPont, C. M., & DuPont, R. L. (2020). Trends in substance nonuse by high school seniors: 1975–2018. Pediatrics, e2020007187. doi: 10.1542/peds.2020-007187

● King, S. M., McGee, J., Winters, K. C., & DuPont, R. L. (2019). Correlates of substance use abstinence and non-abstinence among high school seniors: results from the 2014 Monitoring the Future survey. Journal of Adolescent Substance Abuse, 28(2), 105-112.

● Levy, S., Campbell, M. C., Shea, C. L., & DuPont, R. L. (2018). Trends in abstaining from substance use in adolescents: 1975-2014. Pediatrics, 142(2), e20173498.

● DuPont, R. L., Han, B., Shea, C. L., & Madras, B. K. (2018). Drug use among youth: national survey data support a common liability of all drug use. Preventive Medicine, 113, 68-73.

● DuPont, R. L. (2018, Nov 5). Addiction often begins with a ‘beautiful’ boy or girl [First Opinion]. Stat.

● The Partnership to End Addiction. (2013, April). Commentary: Recognizing the Contribution of Adolescent Substance Use to Poor School Performance. DuPont, R. L. Report available: DuPont, R. L., Caldeira, K. M., DuPont, H. S., Vincent, K. B., Shea, C. L., & Arria, A. M. (2013). America’s dropout crisis: The unrecognized connection to adolescent substance use. Rockville, MD: Institute for Behavior and Health, Inc.