Senators Leahy and Grassley Introduce Emerging Drug Trends Legislation

On Wednesday, February 24th, Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) announced the introduction of the Drug Free Communities (DFC) Enhancement Act of 2010. If passed, this legislation would allow current and former DFC grantees to apply for grants of up to $75,000 per year to implement comprehensive, communitywide strategies to address emerging local drug issues or drug crises.

These grants, which must be matched dollar for dollar, would be available to DFC coalitions for up to four years. CADCA will be sending out a legislative alert that asks you to get your Senator to be a co-sponsor of this exciting new legislation.

“The community coalition model has proven extremely effective, and has achieved impressive outcomes,” said Leahy. “We see significant results when we have people working together at the local, state, and Federal levels, and in the law enforcement, prevention, and treatment fields. We have seen that success in Vermont and throughout the country, but there is more work to be done. Drug abuse and drug-related crime is a persistent problem in America, in major metropolitan areas and rural communities alike. I hope all Senators will support this bipartisan bill so that communities nationwide can sustain effective community coalitions to reduce youth drug use.”

Senator Grassley added, “Community coalitions are on the frontlines fighting drug abuse every day. These grassroots organizations know how to best meet the challenges faced by a particular community. The enhancement grants will help these groups identify new and emerging drug abuse and work to defeat the threat to their kids and families.”

Senator Leahy also said, “Last week, I spoke with a number of Vermonters representing these community partnerships and heard about the innovative frameworks they have implemented to combat drug abuse in their communities, thanks in large part to DFC grants. This bill will enable many of them to secure supplemental funding to continue the important work they do every day.”

If passed, the DFC Enhancement Act of 2010 would authorize $5 million for fiscal years 2011 through 2015 to allow current or former DFC grantees to apply for supplemental funds of up to $75,000 on a dollar for dollar matching basis for up to four years. Eligible applicants must be able to document, using local data, that there is an emerging local drug issue or a local drug crisis within the community.

For the purposes of the Act:

• the term emerging local drug issue means, with respect to the area served by a coalition, a sudden increase in the use or abuse of a particular drug in the community as documented by local data;

• the term local drug crisis means, that with respect to the area served by a coalition, the use of a specific drug at levels that are significantly higher than the national average in the area, over a sustained period of time, from a baseline determined by locally collected data.

Stay tuned for updates and legislative alerts on the DFC Enhancement Act of 2010. “Now that Senators Leahy and Grassley have undertaken the huge step of introducing this legislation, it is our turn to step up as a field to advocate on its behalf, and encourage as many Senators as possible to support the legislation, and join as co-sponsors,” said Sue Thau, Public Policy Consultant for CADCA.