Pubdate: Thu, 11 Mar 2004 Source: Huntsville Times (AL) Copyright: 2004 The Huntsville Times Contact: http://www.htimes.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/730 Author: Juli Gerrits Referenced: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v04/n317/a09.html?28588 ONLY A FRACTION "A new state program ... won't do much" is a misleading subtitle for The Times' Feb. 20 editorial about a federally funded plan to help groups work as a coalition. The editorial states a rational person would not conclude that $9 million is going to do much to impede or prevent drug experimentation, yet a few paragraphs later it acknowledges education, intervention and treatment should be implemented. Such services can not be implemented without money. I disagree with the statement that drug use is mostly confined to a certain socioeconomic segment, but even if use was confined, the impact on our community is not. Tax-funded treatment, lost productivity, DUI and other crimes resulting from substance abuse affect everyone. The editorial accurately states that drug abuse is a medical and societal problem and concludes that money can help agencies deal with the drug problem rationally. Drugs Offer No Tomorrow (D.O.N.T.) Inc. provides prevention education to approximately 10,000 students in public and private schools each year in Madison County. From 1997 to 2003, 19 percent fewer students in those schools tried alcohol; cigarette and marijuana use was down 14 percent and 11 percent respectively. Despite these successes, prevention is in jeopardy. D.O.N.T. may close due to a $20K budget deficit this year, and projected $88K deficit for FY05. A fraction of $9 million can do much for Madison County. Juli Gerrits, Madison Juli Gerrits is the director of Drugs Offer No Tomorrow Inc. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom