OPTIMAL STRATEGIES FOR PREVENTION OF ECSTASY USE

Abstract

We have investigated optimal control strategies for prevention of ecstasy use. Ecstasy use has continued at raves and nightclubs in recent years and the reduction of ecstasy use has become one of the important issues in society. We apply optimal control theory to a model of the peer-driven dynamics of ecstasy use. Our goal is to minimize the ecstasy use class and the intervention cost. Optimal control is characterized in terms of the solution of optimality system, which is the state system coupled with the adjoint system and the optimality equations. The numerical simulations show the optimal prevention policies of ecstasy use in various scenarios.