Cross-cultural evidence shows that drinking abuse will be low in any group in which drinking "customs, values and sanctions are clear, agreed upon by all, consistent with other customs of the group and characterized by prescriptions for moderate drinking and proscriptions against immoderate drinking" (1995). Prohibition in America has obviously proven unsuccessful as it has in other locations as well, the approach that is taken today is a prohibitionist impulse in the "controversial control-of-consumption approach" (1995). When it comes to alcohol and drugs in the United States, there is a desire for policymakers (and others) to manipulate and control the behavior of others (something endemic to humans) (1995).

The fact that tens of millions of Americans continue to engage in substance abusing behaviors despite efforts on the part of the public and private sectors over the years, is proof positive that merely telling people that something is bad for them is insufficient to effect substantive and lasting changes in their behaviors.
A radically different approach to the drug problem needs to be implemented -- an approach that is "grounded in public health methods and an appreciation