The CRAFFT 2.1 screens young people aged 12 to 21 for alcohol and drug use. It first asks on how many days in the past year they used each substance, then up to six yes-or-no questions. Two or more yes answers mean high risk and a fuller assessment. See how the two parts fit together, what each score means, and how to counsel the teen afterward, then record the result with the free template. The official form is free from the CRAFFT site.
CRAFFT 2.1 result template
FreeCRAFFT 2.1 SCREEN Date: [Date] Patient: [Name or ID] Age: [Years; the tool is for ages 12 to 21] Setting: [Well visit, sports physical, school-based clinic, urgent or emergency visit, or mental health intake] Version and format: [CRAFFT 2.1 or 2.1+N; self-completed on paper or tablet, or clinician interview; language] PRIVATE TIME Seen alone: [Minutes, and which part of the visit] Confidentiality: [What stays private and its limits, such as serious risk of harm or abuse; explained to the teen, the caregiver, or both] Caregiver during the screen: [Out of the room, or present and why] PART A: DAYS IN THE PAST 12 MONTHS Alcohol: [Number of days, 0 if none] Cannabis: [Number of days, and how: smoked, vaped, edibles, or concentrates] Anything else to get high: [Number of days, and what: pills, inhalants, or other drugs] Vaping or tobacco, 2.1+N only: [Number of days, and the yes answers on the nicotine part] Asked next: [Car question only, or all six] CRAFFT SCORE Yes answers: [0 to 6] Questions answered yes: [Car, relax, alone, forget, family or friends, trouble; or none] Cutoff used: [2 or more, or your service's cutoff] Risk level: [Lower risk at 0 to 1, or high risk at 2 to 6] FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONS Pattern: [What, how much, how often, with whom, where, and the most recent use] Effects on daily life: [School, sleep, sport, mood, injuries, blackouts, or legal trouble] Mood and self-harm: [Depression or anxiety screen result, self-harm questions, or not done] DSM-5 criteria: [Criteria met and severity, referred for assessment, or not indicated] RIDES AND DRIVING Rode with an impaired driver: [No, or yes: who, when, and how often] Driving status: [Not driving, learner, or licensed; driven after using: no, or yes and when] Safe-ride plan: [Who the teen will call, the plan agreed with the caregiver, Contract for Life given] BRIEF INTERVENTION Talking points covered: [Results reviewed, advice not to use, ride risk, the teen's own reasons, confidence] Teen's response: [Their words, and any goal they set] Readiness: [0 to 10 rating if used] REFERRAL AND FOLLOW-UP Referral: [None needed, adolescent substance use counselor, specialist program, or mental health care] Shared with caregiver: [What was shared and the teen's agreement, or kept confidential] Next screen or visit: [Date or interval] Clinician: [Name, credentials]
Use it for
Screen the teen alone, after explaining what stays confidential. The developers recommend the self-administered version, filled in before the clinician comes in, because teens answer it more openly.
Avoid: Screening with a parent in the room. Teens under-report use when a parent can hear.
Three counts of days in the past 12 months: alcohol beyond a few sips, cannabis in any form, and anything else used to get high. The 2.1+N adds a fourth, for vaping and tobacco.
Avoid: Writing yes or no in place of days. The number shows whether use was a one-off or happens every week.
Each is answered yes or no. In plain words, they cover:
Avoid: Rewording the questions as you read them. Use the wording on the official form, which can’t be changed.
Count the yes answers for a score from 0 to 6. Two or more is high risk.
Avoid: Reading a non-user’s yes to the Car question as risk of substance use. That score of 1 is about the ride.
Every teen gets brief counseling: short for those who don’t use, longer after a high-risk score. The talking points on the form follow five steps.
Avoid: Lecturing. Ask questions, and let the teen give the reasons.
A score of 2 or more needs a fuller assessment, the same visit where possible.
Avoid: Recording the score with no plan. A high-risk result needs a brief intervention and a next step before the teen leaves.
Each one follows the recording template. Use them to judge how much to write.
Pediatric practice, 16-year well visit; CRAFFT 2.1 self-completed on a tablet while his mother waited outside
Seen alone for 15 minutes after the exam. Confidentiality and its limits explained to him and his mother together at the start.
Alcohol on 6 days, all at parties. Cannabis on 40 days, mostly vaped, with edibles some weekends; most of it in the past 2 months. Anything else to get high: 0. All six questions asked.
3 of 6: relax, alone, family or friends. Car, forget, and trouble: no. High risk at the cutoff of 2.
Started vaping cannabis with friends at 15. Now vapes alone in his room most evenings to wind down and get to sleep. Grades down from Bs to Cs this term; quit the soccer team in September. His girlfriend keeps telling him to cut down. Tried to stop for a week in October; slept badly and felt irritable. PHQ-A 6, mild, with 0 on the self-harm item. Four DSM-5 criteria on questioning: using more than planned, a failed attempt to cut down, giving up soccer, and withdrawal. Impression: cannabis use disorder, moderate, to be confirmed in a full assessment.
Never ridden with a driver who had been using. Has his learner’s permit and says he has never driven after vaping. Agreed to call his mother for a ride rather than drive or ride with anyone who has been using. Contract for Life given.
Went through each yes. Advised stopping cannabis, and linked its effects on memory and sleep to his grades, which he hadn’t connected. His reasons to cut back: getting back on the team and saving money. His goal: no vaping on school nights, starting this week, and throwing out the cartridge he has at home. Readiness 6 of 10: “I didn’t think it was this much.”
Referred to the practice’s adolescent substance use counselor; first appointment in 10 days. With his agreement, his mother was told he screened at risk and is starting counseling; the details stayed between him and the clinician. Review in 4 weeks with repeat Part A counts and CRAFFT.
School-based health center, basketball physical; CRAFFT 2.1 asked as an interview, in private
Seen alone for 10 minutes during the physical. Confidentiality and its limits explained to her; her father signed the consent form earlier and waited in the lobby.
Alcohol, cannabis, and anything else to get high: 0 days each. Car question only.
1: car. Lower risk. The score reflects the ride, not her own use.
14-year-old girl in grade 9. Has never tried alcohol, cannabis, vapes, or other drugs, and says her close friends don’t either. Grades As and Bs. Sleeping 8 to 9 hours on school nights.
Two weekends ago her 19-year-old cousin drove her and her younger brother home from a family barbecue after several beers; she smelled cannabis in the car too. It also happened once in the summer. She felt scared and didn’t know how to say no. Too young to drive.
Praised her choice not to use. Talked through ways out of the car: a code-word text to her father, asking another adult for a ride, or waiting to be picked up. She chose a code word with her father. Her reason not to use: “I want to make varsity, and I’ve seen what it does to my cousin.” Contract for Life given to take home.
No referral needed. With her agreement, her father was told about the rides so they can set up a safe-ride plan; she asked that her cousin’s drinking not be raised with her aunt. Repeat the CRAFFT at next year’s physical, or sooner if anything changes.
Teens report less when a parent can hear. Explain confidentiality, ask the parent to step out, and use the self-administered form where you can.
It’s the one question every teen answers. Riding with a driver who has been drinking or using is a danger to teens who never use themselves.
Only the six yes-or-no answers count toward 0 to 6. The day counts decide which questions follow and show the pattern; record them on their own.
A teen who vapes cannabis most days and answers yes to relax still needs advice and follow-up. Read the score with the Part A counts.
A score of 2 or more needs a brief intervention the same visit, a fuller assessment, and a referral when a disorder is likely.
Vero Scribe records the CRAFFT result in your template from the visit, with the patient’s consent, or from your dictation: the Part A counts, the yes answers, the ride question, the counseling, and the plan. You review and edit every line, then copy it into your record. Vero works in 60+ languages.
Only the six CRAFFT questions are scored. Each yes counts 1 and each no counts 0, for a total from 0 to 6. The Part A day counts aren’t added; they decide which questions are asked and show the pattern of use. A teen who reports no use in Part A answers only the Car question, so scores 0 or 1.
Two or more yes answers is high risk and needs further assessment; 0 or 1 is lower risk. On the official card’s chart, drawn from a 2014 study, 32% of teens scoring 1 met criteria for a substance use disorder, rising to 64% at 2, 79% at 3, 92% at 4, and 100% at 5 and 6. Some services act on a score of 1, since a 2019 emergency department study found it best predicted problem use and mild disorders over three years.
Each letter is one yes-or-no question. C: riding in a car with a driver, the teen included, who was high or had been drinking or using. R: using to relax, feel better about themselves, or fit in. A: using alone. F: forgetting things done while using. F: family or friends saying to cut down. T: getting into trouble while using.
Part A asks on how many days in the past 12 months the teen drank more than a few sips of alcohol, used cannabis in any form, including vaping and edibles, and used anything else to get high, such as pills or inhalants. If every count is 0, only the Car question follows; any use leads to all six. The counts aren’t scored, but record them: they show which substance matters and how often it’s used.
It adds a fourth Part A count, for days of vaping nicotine or flavors or using tobacco. Any days there lead to ten yes-or-no questions on nicotine dependence, adapted from the Hooked on Nicotine Checklist. One or more yes answers suggests a nicotine problem that needs further assessment. It’s scored apart from the 0 to 6 CRAFFT score.
The CAGE and AUDIT-C were built for adults and ask only about alcohol. The CRAFFT was built for teens and covers alcohol, cannabis, and other drugs, with questions about situations teens face, such as riding with an impaired driver. Another teen screen, the S2BI, sorts past-year use of each substance by how often it happens. Pick one validated teen screen and use it every time.
It’s offered for ages 12 to 21. The developers validated it in teens aged 12 to 18, and other researchers have tested it into the mid-20s. Many clinicians give it at each yearly check-up from age 12, and whenever a concern comes up.
The developers ask that answers be kept confidential, and teens are more honest when they are. Explain at the start what stays private and when you would have to share, such as a serious risk of harm. Laws on minors’ consent and on substance use records differ by state and province, so follow the rules where you practice, and share with parents with the teen’s agreement where you can.
Trained members of the care team: pediatricians, family physicians, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, school-based clinicians, counselors, and social workers. The teen can fill in the self-administered version on paper or a tablet, which the developers recommend; a clinician reads the result and gives the brief counseling.
Yes, for clinical care. The official clinician interview and self-administered forms are free to download from the CRAFFT site, in English and many other languages. Reproducing it in print or software needs a request to the CRAFFT team, an unchanged copy with the copyright line, and no charge to users. The recording template on this page is free to copy or download.
Three questions on how often and how much someone drinks, scored 0 to 12: positive at 4 or more for men, 3 or more for women.
The WHO’s 10 questions on drinking, dependence, and harm, scored 0 to 40 into four zones that each come with an intervention.
Four yes-or-no questions on drinking problems at any point in life: positive at 2 or more of 4.
Ten signs rated at the bedside: how severe alcohol withdrawal is now, scored 0 to 67.
Eleven withdrawal signs, from pulse to gooseflesh, rated by a clinician: opioid withdrawal severity from 0 to 48.
The full adolescent psychosocial interview, with the CRAFFT result under Drugs.
After a high-risk score: each substance, the DSM-5 criteria, and the level of care.
Well visits, adolescent screens, and follow-up notes, drafted from the visit for your review.
Every tool, by area, with what its scores mean.
Vero records scores, findings, and plans in the templates you choose, so you review instead of type.
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