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Policy Priorities
| Drug Free Communities (DFC) Program | The Drug-Free Communities (DFC) program has been a central, bi-partisan component of our nation's demand reduction strategy since its passage in 1998. The consistent and steady growth of the program in terms of both appropriations (from $10 million in FY 1998 to $90 million in FY 2009) and the number of grantees (from 92 original grantees to 1520 grantees) is a testament to the program's popularity. The premise of the DFC program is simple – that communities around the country must be organized and equipped to deal with their individual substance abuse problems in a comprehensive and coordinated manner. |
| Elementary and Secondary Education Act Reauthorization | Congress is currently working to reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), formerly known as No Child Left Behind. Given that the State Grants portion of the Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities program has been eliminated, CADCA’s Public Policy Department has been working to ensure that substance use/abuse prevention and intervention is required to be explicitly addressed and that every state and as many school districts as possible in every state are funded through the reauthorization. It has developed a number of papers to educate Congress about the critical importance of including substance use/abuse prevention and intervention in the ESEA Reauthorization. |
| Healthcare Reform | Alcohol and drug addiction is a chronic disease for which there are effective community based prevention and wellness programs, strategies, policies and activities. Research over the last two decades has proven that drug and alcohol addiction is both preventable and treatable, and recovery is a reality for millions of Americans. Therefore, the entire continuum of care must be a critical component of healthcare reform. CADCA has been working to see that substance abuse prevention is appropriately included in healthcare reform. CADCA also is a part of a broader coalition, the Coalition for Whole Health, which is working to ensure that in addition to substance abuse prevention, treatment, recovery, and full and equitable parity for mental health and addiction is included in the final legislation. |
| Support 21 Toolkit | Community anti-drug coalitions throughout the country are all too familiar with the detrimental consequences associated with underage drinking, not only for those youth directly involved, but also for communities at-large. Despite these negative ramifications, the Amethyst Initiative, founded by John McCardell, President Emeritus of Middlebury College and Founder of Choose Responsibility, seeks to revisit the debate on the legal drinking age, and encourages law makers to lower it. To date, more than 100 college presidents have signed on to the Initiative. |
| Marijuana | Here are a number of science-based documents that deal with the issue of marijuana legalization. They are divided into four sections including: Background, Case Against Legalization, Engaging the Media, and Recent Issues. |