The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) has awarded nearly £1 million to support major research projects aimed at reducing recreational drug use among young people, marking the latest phase of a national programme designed to develop evidence-based prevention strategies.
The new funding forms part of the Innovation Fund to Reduce Demand for Illicit Substances, a multi-year initiative delivered in partnership with the UK government and the Joint Combating Drugs Unit. The programme supports research into interventions designed to reduce the demand for substances such as cocaine, cannabis, ecstasy and nitrous oxide, particularly among younger populations. The latest awards bring the total funding committed across the programme’s three phases to almost £5 million. Researchers will test new education-based interventions and digital learning approaches that could eventually be deployed across schools, community organisations and public health systems.
New evidence-based interventions targeting young people
Two major projects have received funding in the programme’s final phase, both focused on improving drug prevention programmes for adolescents and young adults.
The first study will evaluate a drug education programme for 13- to 15-year-olds, particularly targeting young people in deprived areas and those attending Pupil Referral Units (PRUs), who are often excluded from mainstream education. The project uses a theatre-based teaching model that combines filmed performances, classroom discussions, workshops and teacher training to engage students and encourage informed decision-making about drug use.
Researchers will assess how well the programme improves knowledge of drug risks, supports resilience to peer pressure and helps teachers deliver drug education effectively in challenging educational environments. The study will run in schools in Scotland and in PRUs across London.
The second project focuses on expanding The Illicit Project UK (TIP-UK), a digital prevention programme adapted from a successful Australian model. The intervention consists of three interactive online sessions covering how drugs affect the brain, how social pressure influences substance use, and how young people can access support services when needed.
Following a successful pilot phase, the programme will now be expanded to at least 48 schools across north-west England and Scotland. Researchers will compare outcomes across schools using different approaches to drug education, including those delivering standard lessons and those incorporating the TIP-UK model alongside additional teacher training.
Growing need for effective prevention strategies
The funding reflects rising concern about the scale of drug use among young people in the UK. According to national estimates, around 2.9 million adults aged 16–59 reported using illicit drugs in the year ending March 2025, including nearly 900,000 people aged between 16 and 24. Public health experts say that while many individuals stop using drugs before the age of 30, early experimentation can have long-term consequences for mental health, education and employment outcomes.
Drug and alcohol-related deaths also remain the leading cause of premature mortality among people under the age of 50 in the UK. These trends have prompted policymakers to place greater emphasis on prevention strategies rather than relying solely on treatment services. The NIHR programme was launched following recommendations from the government’s independent review of drugs, which concluded that there was limited high-quality evidence about which prevention strategies actually reduce recreational drug use.
Technology and digital education shaping prevention
A notable aspect of the new research projects is the increasing use of digital technology in drug prevention programmes. Online learning platforms, interactive digital modules and multimedia teaching resources are expected to play a central role in the next generation of public health interventions.
The TIP-UK programme, for example, uses short online lessons that can be delivered in classrooms or remotely. These sessions are designed to improve understanding of the neurological effects of drugs while also helping students develop critical thinking skills around peer pressure and risk-taking behaviour. Researchers will also collect detailed data through surveys, interviews and digital learning analytics to understand how students interact with the programmes and how their attitudes toward drugs change over time.
Health policy experts say that combining digital education tools, behavioural science and public health research could create more effective prevention strategies than traditional information-only campaigns. Previous research has shown that programmes relying solely on scare tactics or basic information about drug harms are often ineffective and can sometimes have unintended consequences.
Building a national evidence base
The long-term goal of the NIHR initiative is to build a robust evidence base for interventions that can be rolled out nationally through schools, community services and public health programmes. By testing and evaluating prevention strategies in real-world settings, researchers hope to identify approaches that can reduce the demand for recreational drugs while supporting young people’s wider wellbeing. If the latest projects demonstrate positive outcomes, they could inform future government policy on drug prevention and education. More broadly, the programme reflects a growing shift toward data-driven public health strategies that combine research, technology and education to address complex social and health challenges.
