New guidance recommends starting substance use education in kindergarten

published on June 28, 2026 by Akshay Kulkarni in CBC News

A new framework to develop guidelines around substance use in schools recommends beginning prevention and education efforts efforts as early as kindergarten.

The framework, dubbed Anchoring Change, was developed by a team that comprised academics, addictions researchers and school system administrators.

It is aimed at helping school administrators change their substance-use policies and shift away from a punitive approach to youth substance use — which previous research has found to be ineffective — and toward one that prioritizes community supports.

Emily Jenkins, the scientific director of the Canadian Centre for Innovation in Child and Youth Mental Health and Substance Use, said substance-related deaths were the leading cause of mortality for people aged 10 to 18 across Canada…