This is an intervention carried out in schools in Brazil with the objective of preventing drug abuse among young people. The intervention comprises 12 classes plus three workshops with parents and guardians. The classes are offered by schoolteachers over the course of a school year. It is recommended that the intervention be carried out in the 8th grade of elementary school (average age: 13 years).
The work that is developed interactively with young people is based on three axes: 1) development of life skills; 2) clarification of the role of normative beliefs; and 3) knowledge and information on the topic.
Specifically, the curriculum addresses topics such as the following:
1) Social influence and social learning;
2) Problematic behaviors;
3) Health beliefs;
4) Theories of rational action-attitude; and
5) Social norms.
The program is an adaptation of Unplugged, developed by European researchers and recommended by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) for its high effectiveness. In Brazil, the program started to be implemented in 2013 and was proposed by the National Coordination of Mental Health, Alcohol, and Other Drugs within the Brazilian Ministry of Health, in partnership with UNODC/Brazil. The second version was implemented between 2014 and 2015, which adopted an approach focused on harm reduction. Finally, between 2018 and 2019, this change was reversed when #TamoJunto2.0 was launched.