DRUG GRANTS

$32 million will fight abuse

There is no single national drug problem so no one approach can lower the
way Americans get high. But most experts acknowledge that an effective
method of curtailing drug use is to tailor programs to fight specific types
of abuse regionally.

Toward that end, President Clinton announced over the weekend that $32
million in grants are being sent to local officials to help them organize
and shape programs that might work at home. Oklahoma City, for instance,
will become one of six cities sharing $5 million to tackle methamphetamine
use, a drug problem prevalent in the west and southwest.

Of the federal money released, $27 million will be used to create special
drug courts in 150 jurisdictions. More than 270 drug courts, including one
in Tulsa, already exist around the country. They combine supervision with
sanctions, testing and drug treatment to per suade nonviolent criminals to
clean up their act. In some cities, recidivism rates for drug-court
participants have dropped to below 4 percent.

One way to fight abuse is to know where to aim programs. Marijuana use, for
instance, is leveling off or dropping among male criminals but is rising
slightly in arrested females.

The Arrestee Drug Abuse Monitoring program -- ADAM -- used in 35 cities
will expand to 75 or 80 locations within two years, including every city
with a population greater than 200,000. Its findings have helped cities
identify their drug problems. The findings also help policy-makers with
specific guidance about how their programs and interventions are
succeeding.

Drug officials, armed with better information may be getting smarter. Tax
dollars are far too scarce not to put money where it counts.

Checked-by: (Joel W. Johnson)