WASHINGTON -- Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson announced last week awards to begin funding 12 local programs aimed at preventing use of Ecstasy and other club drugs. The one-year awards will total $4,091,000.
Ecstasy, ketamine, rohypnol, GHB and LSD are among the club drugs rapidly finding acceptance among adolescents and college-age youth. Congress passed the Ecstasy Anti-Proliferation Act of to prevent youth acceptance of these dangerous substances.
The awards will be granted by HHS' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
"These grants will support efforts to help young people steer clear of dangerous club drugs such as Ecstasy and rohypnol," Thompson said. "These awards will help young people recognize that club drugs can lead to date rape, addiction and death."
SAMHSA administrator Charles Curie said, "At a time in their lives when adolescents and young adults should be studying and preparing for their futures it is a tragedy to see them instead affecting their memory and risking their lives on Ecstasy and other club drugs. These grants are designed to target funding to communities where club drugs are an emerging problem."
Grantees include:
Social Advocates for Youth (San Diego/South Bay Calif.) - $343,000. The grantee will focus on high-risk youth in three age groups to promote high community norms involving "club drug" use and their connection with "rave" events.
Community Action Partnership (Kern County, Calif.) - $341,212. The grantee will integrate Ecstasy and other club drugs prevention, education, and intervention efforts for middle school and high school students. California State University (Long Beach, Calif) - $341,221. The grantee will target male club drug users and others at-risk for HIV.
Pittsburg Pre-School and Community Council (Contra Costa County, Calif.) - $342,568. The grantee will develop community-driven, peer-based prevention services to prevent or reduce club drug use among teens, college students, other young adults, and older adults at risk for club drug use.
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.
Source: Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration