Unfortunately in the age we live in there is no alternative to educating your children about drugs. Whether or not you educate them, they will encounter these substances throughout their lives , even if only incidentally. As a result, educating your children to understand the risks and why clean living is preferable is absolutely necessary.
For younger children, they will nee the basics. It is enough to simply tell them to say no to drugs, and peer pressure, and to tell them that they are unhealthy and will lead to a variety of negative outcomes.
Once a child begins to approach their teen years they will have some concept of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana and possibly other substances. At this stage it will be important to inform them of the risks of various substances they are likely to encounter and strategies to avoid situations and people that might attempt to foist these substances upon them.
Underlying every strategy to mitigate or prevent substance abuse in young people are the values that have been instilled in them from an early age. In this way drug prevention can happen everyday of their lives, albeit indirectly.