From 2005 to 2020, NASPA was awarded grant funding through the Colorado Office of Behavioral Health to address collegiate alcohol and other drug abuse prevention. Now, CADE receives funding through the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment to continue to prioritize alcohol and other drug prevention on college campuses. The CADE supports collegiate prevention efforts by helping facilitate data collection surrounding alcohol and other drug use behaviors, creating online professional development opportunities for prevention teams, and providing technical assistance for all campus professionals in the state.
At the heart of CADE’s work is the understanding that every campus is at a different place in its prevention and health promotion efforts, and the coalition takes pride in meeting campuses where they are. Through resources, training, technical assistance, professional development, and networking opportunities for campuses to learn from one another, CADE can help institutions build the capacity to address the unique needs of their students and communities. CADE’s approach is grounded in upstream prevention approaches and recognizes that college students’ health and well-being are influenced by a range of risk and protective factors at the individual, interpersonal, institutional, and community levels.
The coalition supports campuses in using the Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF) to assess their unique needs, identify priorities, build capacity, implement evidence-informed strategies, and evaluate outcomes. CADE also encourages campuses to utilize tools such as CollegeAIM to identify and select evidence-based substance misuse prevention interventions that align with their campus context, student population, and prevention goals. This approach reinforces the importance of moving beyond one-time awareness activities toward comprehensive, data-informed prevention strategies that address the conditions that influence student health and behavior.
Mission: CADE is a coalition of Colorado institutions of higher education dedicated to creating healthier communities for college students to live, work, learn, and grow. CADE supports student affairs professionals through health and well-being training, technical assistance, partnership resources, evidence-based substance misuse prevention programming, and professional development for all Colorado colleges and universities.
Vision: To collectively foster thriving campus communities where all Colorado college students are holistically supported to make safer and healthier choices.
Benefits of joining CADE:
- Be a part of the united and strategic statewide direction for upstream prevention efforts
- Be a part of the cultures and environments that foster healthier choices in higher education
- Benefit from grant funding opportunities
- Access regional networking opportunities
- Access professional development opportunities
- Access to high-quality trainings and webinars for staff and student leaders
- Access to the online coalition resource hub and monthly newsletters
- Receive consultation with other campuses and professionals
- Receive technical support
- Be a part of coalition leadership opportunities
Understanding the Issue: Colorado College Student Substance Misuse Behaviors
In 2023 and 2025, CADE partnered with ten Colorado institutions of higher education to develop a statewide dataset on collegiate substance use utilizing the American College Health Association's National College Health Assessment survey tool (NCHA). Each institution collected survey data at their campus and contributed to a de-identified, Colorado specific, population-level dataset. This dataset informs CADE’s strategic priorities and efforts across the state.
There are cultural challenges that contribute to higher use of alcohol and cannabis among the Colorado collegiate student population. College in general has had a long-standing and pervasive drinking culture, and there are assumptions about college life being a time to experiment with alcohol and drugs. Also, there is a perception that everyone uses cannabis in a state where it’s legalized. Because of this culture and the data, there is still a need to prioritize additional substance misuse prevention work with the state’s college population.
Key Data Points:
- 68% of Colorado college students reported alcohol use in the past three months. Alcohol use among Colorado students remains higher than the national average of 61%.
- 12% of Colorado college students engaged in moderate to high-risk drinking behaviors.
- 52% of Colorado college students reported using cannabis, compared to 41% nationally.
- Compared to Colorado youth overall, only 21% of Colorado K-12 students reported drinking alcohol in the past month, and 13% of students reported past-month cannabis use (Healthy Kids Colorado Survey, 2023). This highlights the significant increase in substance use that occurs as students transition to college.
Source: The Spring 2025 ACHA-NCHA CADE Statewide Data Report can be found here.
Upcoming Trainings
For upcoming CADE trainings, please visit this website.
