Psychology Prof. William Crano tapped to craft UN drug abuse prevention standards

Wednesday, April 11, 2012

The United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime has asked Claremont Graduate University Psychology Professor William Crano to serve on an international committee that will craft a set of global drug prevention standards.

Crano, one of the world's leading drug prevention researchers, is working with other top thinkers and policy experts to create the standards, which will be made available to UN member states.

"Drug abuse is a worldwide problem, and a number of member nations have asked the UN for guidance," Crano said. "These countries have big problems and no idea how to solve them. Our goal is to give high level decision makers the tools they need to implement prevention programs in their countries."

The United Nations estimates that between 149 and 272 million people used illicit substances at least once in the past year. Somewhere between 104,000 and 263,000 deaths each year are attributable to illicit drug use.

Crano met with the committee in Vienna, Austria, last winter. The committee will convene again next month, with a final report expected within the next year.

Crano's applied research is concerned with the development of persuasive and instructional information to prevent drug abuse in children and adolescents.

He is a fellow of the APA and APS, has been a NATO Senior Scientist, a Fulbright Fellow to Brazil, and a liaison scientist in the behavioral sciences for the Office of Naval Research, London.  He also has served as the Chair of the Executive Committee for the Society of Experimental Social Psychology, and as Director of the Program in Social Psychology at National Science Foundation.