Central to this adaptation is the realization that person-focused strategies for preventing or reducing alcohol and other drug problems have only limited success. Whether providing treatment and recovery services directly to individuals who have alcohol and other drug problems, or focusing prevention strategies directly at individuals thought to be at high risk of developing alcohol and other drug problems, society's victories pate when compared to the enormity and the complexity of the problem.

In fighting communicable disease, the Public Health approach recognizes three essential repositories of disease - - the agent, the host, and the environment - - and develops strategies that focus on each of these. The classic analogy is malaria: quinine provided to the victims may be accompanied by the draining of swamps in order to kill the mosquitoes that carry the malaria parasite. Because of this approach, malaria is rarely a problem today in most parts of the world.

Adapting this approach to alcohol and drum problems is really quite simple conceptually: the agent is alcohol and other drugs; the host is the individual who uses (or, in the case of prevention, who is at risk of using) alcohol and other drugs; and the environment is the societal or cultural context in which alcohol and other drug use occur. Examples of environments include families, peers, friends, the workplace, church, schools, public parks, athletic stadiums, restaurants, institutions including Government, neighborhoods and communities at large. The public health approach challenges communities to find and implement strategies focusing not only on the host (or victim), but also directly on the agent and the environment.

The public health approach is often displayed graphically by a triangle, wherein each of the three angles represents the three elements: agent, host, and environment. A handout of this model was provided to all who participated in the Master Plan process, and the discussions in the focus groups frequently emphasized and referred to it. A copy of it may be found on the following page.