Substance addiction continues to be a widespread and pervasive aspect of modern Irish society. The primary prevention effort directed at adolescents consists of the secondary school substance abuse prevention programme which has not been evaluated since its introduction in 1994. This study aimed to investigate students views on the programme. The study adopted a mixed methods approach: a survey was administered to 102 5th-year students from three secondary schools, with supporting evidence from semi-structured interviews with clients attending a substance abuse rehabilitation project....