Sarasota Coalition on
Substance Abuse [SCoSA]

| About SCoSA | Community Initiatives | Members |Partners | Resource Center | Teen/Youth | SCoSA News |

SCOSA NEWS

EXECUTIVE OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT

OFFICE OF NATIONAL DRUG CONTROL POLICY

Washington, DC   20503

  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:                                                                      Contact: ONDCP

  Wednesday, September 21,2005                                                                           202-395-6618

 ONDCP ANNOUNCES $100,000

ANTI-DRUG COALITION GRANT FOR

SARASOTA COALITION ON SUBSTANCE ABUSE, INC.

(Washington, D.C.) –The Office of National Drug Control Policy today announced that Sarasota County, Florida will receive a $100,000 Drug-Free Communities matching grant for the Sarasota Coalition on Substance Abuse, Inc. (SCoSA). The grant was one of 176 new grants totaling $17.1 million awarded today to community anti-drug coalitions across the country.  The goal of the 711 local coalitions is to work together to prevent and reduce drug, alcohol, and tobacco abuse among youth.  Coalitions are comprised of diverse groups of people, including community leaders, parents, youth, teachers, religious and fraternal organizations, health care and business professionals, law enforcement, and the media.

“This is great news for the anti-drug efforts of Sarasota County.” said SCoSA Executive Director Curt Lavarello. “The Drug-Free Communities Program and other drug prevention efforts are important elements of a balanced national drug control strategy.  The Sarasota Coalition on Substance Abuse is doing crucial drug prevention work in our community and this additional influx of Federal money will help us expand our efforts and reach more of the Sarasota County children.”

John Walters, Director of National Drug Control Policy and President Bush’s “Drug Czar,” said, “As a nation, we have made significant progress in protecting our young people from the dangers of substance abuse, with a 17 percent reduction in drug use over the last three years.  This grant will help the dedicated citizens of Sarasota County, Florida contribute even more to this effort and will help build on the important progress being made to keep our children healthy and drug-free.”

We are pleased to be working on ONDCP to administer the Drug-Free Communities Program," said Charles Curie, Administrator, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.  "Some of the most important work to reduce drug use comes from our Nation's grass-roots community coalitions.  These coalitions, teamed up with our Strategic Prevention Framework Grants to the states, create a powerful force that can continue to drive down the numbers of young people using illicit drugs."

The Drug-Free Communities Program provides grants of up to $500,000 over five years to community organizations that serve as catalysts for citizen participation in local drug prevention efforts. The 176 new grantees were selected from 411 applicants through a competitive peer review process.   To qualify for matching grants, all awardees must have at least a six-month history of working together on substance abuse reduction initiatives, develop a long-term plan to reduce substance abuse, and participate in a national evaluation of the Drug-Free Communities Program.

Created under the Drug-Free Communities Act of 1997, the Drug-Free Communities Program has earned strong bipartisan support from Congress.  In December of 2001, Congress passed and the President signed into law a five-year extension of the Drug-Free Communities Act, authorizing $399 million in funds through FY 2007.

In addition to the 176 new grants awarded today, another $54 million will support continuation grants to 535 existing community coalition projects operating in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Since 1997, eight competitions have awarded $320 million in grants to more than 1000 community anti-drug coalitions. ONDCP administers the Drug-Free Communities Program in conjunction with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

More information about the Drug-Free Communities Program is available at:

www.whitehousedrugpolicy.gov, and http://drugfreecommunities.samhsa.gov/

 | Volunteer | 941.377.7736 | E-mail Us |

| Copyright © 2005-2008 | Sarasota Coalition on Substance Abuse, Inc. | All Rights Reserved |

| 701 McIntosh Road | Sarasota, FL 34232 |