WASHINGTON, Oct. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson today announced awards totaling more than $23 million over five years to fight the spread of Ecstasy and other club drugs. The funds from HHS’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) will foster development of projects through schools, Boys and Girls Clubs, local health departments and other community-based organizations that have strong evidence of effectiveness.
The grants to 17 programs in 11 states will total $4,970,058 in the first year. Grants will go to Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, and the Jamul Indian Village of California.
“America’s youth should be learning and preparing for their futures, not escaping into the dangerous world of drugs,” Secretary Thompson said. “This grant program heeds President Bush’s call to go to the places where Americans live, go to school and work to promote healthier choices. We are using recent research and providing funds to insure local programs are using the most up- to-date and effective practices to protect our youth.”
“SAMHSA is gratified that the 2003 National Survey on Drug Use and Health shows that among youth 12-17 there was a 41 percent decline in use of Ecstasy in the past year,” SAMHSA Administrator Charles Curie noted. “This grant program will build on these results to protect youngsters who might be tempted to start down that dangerous road of drug abuse.”
While Ecstasy mentions in hospital emergency rooms were stable from 2001 to 2002, there were large increases in ecstasy reported in emergency rooms from 1994 onward. Mentions of ecstasy in emergency rooms rose 1,491 percent from 1994 to 2002.
The following programs received grants:
The Arizona Department of Health Services will implement the Pulse for Life Ecstasy and other club drug prevention and harm reduction project for high-risk men in Tucson. The project will endeavor to change social norms and support behavior change in individuals with sustained ecstasy and other club drug abuse problems. The program will receive $292,356 each year for five years for a total of $1,461,780.
The California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs will enter into a cooperative agreement with the Kern County Mental Health Department in cooperation with the Community Action Partnership of Kern and Youth Together Program to provide prevention and intervention services and case management to 120 at-risk middle school and high school students. The program will receive $292,356 each year for five years for a total of $1,461,780.
The Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services will implement evidence-based prevention programs in two Boys and Girls Club sites in the Greater Bridgeport area. The curriculum will be expanded to other Boys and Girls Clubs in the area in years three through five. The program will receive $292,356 each year for five years for a total of $1,461,780.
The Florida Department of Children and Families, District 11, in coordination with the Miami-Dade County Public Schools, the south Florida Regional Prevention Center, and the Village, Inc., will conduct the Prevention, Research, and Outreach Technologies for ecstasy and Club Drug Termination (PROTECT) Project. The goal is to build the prevention infrastructure and increase services for minority youth between the ages of 13 and 19 residing in Miami-Dade County. Over 5-years, the project will serve 9,985 persons. The project will receive $292,356 each year for five years for a total of $1,461,780.
The Florida Department of Children and Families in partnership with Gateway Community Service and the Stewart Marchman Center will use funds to continue implementation of an effective, innovative prevention program in Northeast Florida. This program will be tested and evaluated with the goal of establishing it as the first ecstasy and club drugs prevention program on SAMHSA’s National Registry of Effective Programs. The program will receive $292,356 each year for five years for a total of $1,461,780.
The State of Hawaii, Department of Health, has contracted with the Coalition for a Drug-Free Hawaii to conduct the Hawaii Ecstasy Project to expand an evidence-based prevention services and practices intervention that is culturally relevant and effective in addressing the increasing and urgent problem of ecstasy use among residents in the Windward School District of Oahu. The plan is to modify their program to prevent college alcohol abuse to address Ecstasy and use it with high school students. The project will expand the capacity of service providers, schools, parents and community members to deal effectively with the problem of ecstasy abuse. The program will receive $292,356 each year for five years for a total of $1,461,780.
The Maryland Department of Health and Hygiene’s AIDS Administration in collaboration with Chase Brexton Health Services Inc., and the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health intends to reduce club drug use among high- risk men through a coordinated system of prevention and substance abuse treatment in the Baltimore metropolitan area. The project was developed in response to the growing use of club drugs including ecstasy, methamphetamine, GHB, ketamine, and LSD and high-risk sexual practices that pose serious public health effects. The program will receive $292,356 each year for five years for a total of $1,461,780.
The Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Bureau of Substance Abuse Services, in conjunction with the Boston Public Health Commission, the Fenway Community Health Center, the AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts and the Fenway Institute, intend to deliver both universal and selective ecstasy and other club drug prevention interventions to high risk men aged 18 and older and who participate in the “club” or “internet hookup” scenes. The project will use quota sampling to obtain a representative sample of 200 high-risk men about whom data will be collected. The universal intervention will be public health social marketing messages and use of the Communities Mobilizing for Change in Alcohol model adapted to club drugs. The program will receive $292,356 each year for three years for a total of $877,068.
The Mississippi Department of Mental Health has contracted with the Mississippi Southern Coalition to implement two-evidence based prevention interventions to prevent, reduce, and/or delay use of ecstasy and other club drugs. The target population includes youth and adults between age 12 and 24 attending alternative schools, the community college and state university in the rural southern part of the state. The plan is also to further develop the prevention infrastructure in the rural southern part of the state. Mississippi has a one year grant of $292,356.
The State of Oregon contracted with the Oregon Partnership to conduct the Club Drug Awareness Project (CDAP), which is a school-based prevention intervention in Portland, Oregon. The intervention involves an after-school film-making project that will include education, community-outreach and evaluation. Its goal is to prevent, reduce or delay club drug use by increasing individual protective factors, raising community awareness about the dangers of club drugs and providing youth with the opportunity to participate in a progressive science-based prevention activity. The project will involve about 40 primarily African American youth who have up to this point been underserved per year and is designed to help them build connections to their school and community. The program will receive $292,356 each year for five years for a total of $1,461,780.
The State of Oregon had contracted with the Oregon Partnership to conduct the Beaverton Parents and Youth Together program to implement three evidence- based strategies: 1) All Stars for Youth that will involve 300 youth aged 11- 15/year, 2) The NICASA Parent Project that will involve 110 parents per year, and 3) a social marketing campaign that will expand and strengthen effective, culturally appropriate and sustainable prevention interventions for using Ecstasy and other club drugs in the Beaverton school district. The target population is multi-ethnic. The program will receive $292,356 each year for five years for a total of $1,461,780.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health Ecstasy and Other Club Drug Prevention Project will implement a program targeted at three public high schools in Berks County. Data about student use and nonuse of club drugs will be presented to discourage use and increase the incidence of nonuse. The project will involve collecting student data on their use and perceptions of peer use of ecstasy and other club drugs. The program will receive $292,356 each year for five years for a total of $1,461,780.
The Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, with Community Partner, Tarrant County Challenge will provide ecstasy and other club drugs prevention services in Forth Worth. This project will target youth and young adults who attend raves and similar parties, college students, and high risk men who use drugs. Using Tarrant County Challenge’s 200 active members, and current community collaborations, the program will implement prevention services in collaboration with Santa Fe Adolescent Services with options for adolescents, young adults, parents, professionals, and community agencies. It will employ combinations of neurobiological and psycho-educational approaches. The program will receive $292,356 each year for five years for a total of $1,461,780.
The Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse will support the Proyecto Ganadores Program in San Antonio. The program will expand and strengthen effective, culturally appropriate rohypnol, ecstasy and other club drug prevention services at the Texas-Mexico Border (Lower Rio Grande Valley area) to reduce the disproportionately high usage of Rohypnol and other club drugs among the target population. The program will receive $292,356 each year for five years for a total of $1,461,780.
The Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, in collaboration with Phoenix House, the Center for Success and Independence, and the Council on Alcohol and Drugs in Houston, will target youth in selected high schools, Asian youth, and gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgender youth, all at high risk of using ecstasy and other club drugs, with an expanded Towards No Drug Abuse model program adapted to address the specific risk and protective factors. The goals are to reduce current use of ecstasy and other club drugs; increase knowledge about the dangers of use of ecstasy; decrease attitudes that ecstasy is a harmless drug; and increase knowledge among law enforcement personnel regarding the avenues of distribution and how to help prevent club drug in the community. The program will receive $292,356 each year for five years for a total of $1,461,780.
The Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, in partnership with Aliviane, Inc., will conduct Project CARE (Character and Resiliency against Ecstasy). The program is designed to strengthen Hispanic/Latino youth and their families, and provide culturally sensitive, comprehensive, risk-focused services to youth in four targeted areas of El Paso. The plan is to provide them with a prevention education curriculum designed to reduce adolescent substance abuse and other related problematic behaviors. The program plans to reach 1,836 unduplicated individuals in a five year period. The program will receive $292,356 each year for five years for a total of $1,461,780.
The Jamul Indian Village, in partnership with the Institute of Public Strategies and prevention groups, has formed The East County Tribal Club Drug Project. This project will assist the tribe in addressing club drug availability to east county youth. The Jamul Village will lead a binational effort between the Tribal Government and the San Diego East Region of California and SAMHSA. This cooperative agreement will implement culturally appropriate prevention services including assessment of problems and solutions, community organizing to support an East County Tribal Club Drug Task Force, media advocacy to raise the issue on the public agenda, and policy development to address raves and drug availability. The coalition will work with law enforcement partners to monitor ordinances and laws. The program will receive $292,356 each year for five years for a total of $1,461,780.
SAMHSA is a public health agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The agency is responsible for improving the accountability, capacity and effectiveness of the nation’s substance abuse prevention, addictions treatment and mental health service delivery systems.
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
CONTACT: SAMHSA Press Office, +1-240-276-2130
Web site: http://www.samhsa.gov/