HUD CRITICIZED FOR FUNDING ADVICE ON INCENSE, COLORS

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The government wasted $1.1 million on a program that
told public housing tenants which gemstones, types of incense and clothing
colors would best improve their self-esteem, an internal audit found.

The Creative Wellness Program was funded through a federal anti-drugs and
crime program at the Department of Housing and Urban Development starting
in 1998. But in a report released Wednesday, the HUD inspector general
found scant evidence the money had resulted in less substance abuse or
violent crime in the public housing projects.

"This represents an excessive and ineffective use of public housing drug
elimination funds with no measurable benefits," the report said.