$703,504 To Go To Fight Drug And Alcohol Abuse

NEW BRUNSWICK: The Middlesex County Human Services Department is
allocating $703,504 to Municipal Alliance groups to fund efforts
against drug and alcohol abuse in 2004.

The funds, given to the county by the Governor's Council on Alcohol
and Drug Abuse, will be used for programs for all county residents and
include bereavement counseling, middle school after-care programs,
Project Graduation and Drug Abuse Resistance Education.

"This allocation allows groups at the local level to fight drug and
alcohol abuse in their towns," said Freeholder Jane Z. Brady,
chairwoman of the county's Human Services Commission. "Who better to
educate and help residents than their neighbors, people who know the
town's issues and know what resources are available locally?"

Each municipality has a grass-roots group whose purpose is to lessen
and eventually eradicate the ravages of alcohol, tobacco and other
drugs on the population. The county oversees the Municipal Alliances
and ensures that instructors, who are mostly volunteers, are trained
properly with the most up-to-date techniques. "Prevention measures
need to reach all our citizens," Brady said. "It's our job to make
sure that happens effectively."