ANTIDRUG ALLIANCE TAPS RESEARCH

Grant Allows Survey of Specific Problems

TAMPA - In Ybor City, it's underage drinking. The University of South
Florida area is plagued by illegal drugs. In Brandon, it's a burgeoning
crime rate.

The Hillsborough County Anti-Drug Alliance hopes to zero in on those
problems and others inherent in particular communities through a national
program being touted by the wife of Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge.

Communities That Care uses research, surveys and analysis to help
communities find solutions. The system was developed by two University of
Washington professors and is marketed by Channing Bete Co. of Massachusetts.

Consultants travel the country to train established organizations with
methods proven to reduce teen pregnancy, youth smoking and other issues
that hurt communities, Michele Ridge said Monday during a visit to Tampa.

When her husband became governor of Pennsylvania in 1995, she supported the
program throughout the state - which, like Florida, has extensive rural and
elderly populations as well as large cities. Today, she is a spokeswoman
for Communities That Care.

The first step is to organize a committee and enlist members, who spend
about four to five months in intensive training sessions that result in
surveys specific to their community. Channing Bete analyzes results, then
designs a program based on successful public health models, Ridge said.

The program "allows you to [home] in on what your real priorities are and
what real funding sources are available," she said. "And it develops
leadership skills in your community."

The company points to achievements in communities such as LaCrosse, Wis.,
where the juvenile delinquency rate declined 8 percent and child protective
services referrals fell 10 percent in 1996.

To start the effort in Hillsborough, the Florida Office of Drug Control
awarded the local antidrug alliance about $15,000 in grant money, announced
this week.

James McDonough, the state drug control director, said at an open house at
the Drug Abuse Comprehensive Coordinating Office in Tampa that the alliance
and 50 coalitions statewide have had an impact.

Since 1999, when his office began tracking teen violence and other crimes,
Florida has seen a decline in underage drinking as well as drug abuse and
smoking by youths, McDonough said.

The Hillsborough alliance also received a $25,000 grant last month from a
pharmaceutical company, Purdue Pharma, that makes the addictive painkiller
OxyContin.

The alliance provides similar guidance to law enforcement, substance abuse
treatment providers and others, but it has acted more as a sounding board
and advocacy group.

"We don't have the expertise [Channing Bete] has with surveys and
research," longtime alliance member Sue Carrigan said. "How do you know
where to start?"

Kay Doughty, director of DACCO's family center and substance abuse
services, heads the new alliance committee. Anyone interested in
participating can call her at (813) 980-3866.