The levels of drug use amongst school-aged young people have risen over the past decade. Prevention initiatives have been developed using empirical evidence obtained from school-based surveys. The empirical evidence base of drug use amongst young people with social, emotional and behavioural difficulties (SEBD) attending special education provision is very limited. The implications of this knowledge gap for addressing drug use amongst these young people are explored in this paper. Proposals for the way forward are suggested, for developing a framework for targeted evidence-based interventions for young people attending emotional and behavioural difficulty units.