Font Resize”These grants will help make sure that in Humboldt County we have healthy kids and drug-free communities,” said Thompson. “This funding will help save lives and allow these organizations to mobilize and organize our community around the goal of preventing youth substance use.”
”Funds from the Drug-Free Communities Support Program are currently being used to support the efforts of the Humboldt Allies for Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition to reduce youth substance use, including the ‘In Focus’ youth photo project that recently won three top honors at the Humboldt County fair, including two Best of Show awards,” said Dawn Arledge, senior health education specialist for the Department of Health and Human Services.
”Youth substance use is a significant concern, and reducing it will require a community-wide response. The DFC funds are bringing together schools, law enforcement, parents, youth, the medical community, and other stakeholders to build community-wide supports. The grants are helping us address old problems in new ways, and we’re grateful for the opportunity,” said Mike Goldsby, senior program manager from the Department of Health and Human Services.
”America’s success in the 21st century depends in part on our ability to help young people make decisions that will keep them healthy and safe,” said Gil Kerlikowske, director of National Drug Control Policy. “We congratulate this coalition on its work to raise a generation of young people equipped to remain drug free and ready to prosper in school, in their communities, and in the workplace. While law enforcement efforts will always serve a vital role in keeping our communities safe, we know that stopping drug use before it ever begins is always the smartest and most cost-effective way to reduce drug use and its consequences.”
The DFC Program was created by the Drug-Free Communities Act of 1997, and reauthorized by Congress in 2001 and 2006. Since 1998, the Office of National Drug Control Policy has awarded more than 2,000 Drug-Free Communities grants to local communities in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam, Palau, American Samoa, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and the Federated States of Micronesia.
A new drug control strategy released by the Obama Administration in April outlines specific actions to be undertaken by the Federal Government to reform U.S. drug policy through innovative and evidence-based public health and safety approaches, which include expanding access to drug treatment and recovery support programs, breaking the cycle of drug use, crime, and incarceration, and supporting youth outreach programs that prevent drug use before it begins.
For more information about the Office of National Drug Control Policy or the Drug Free Communities Support Program, visit: www.WhiteHouse.gov/ONDCP.
