PUTNAM ANTI-DRUG GROUP SEEKS TO CONTINUE FIGHT

Putnam, Conn. - The Putnam Partnership to Reduce the Influence of
Drugs for Everyone, or PRIDE, is nearing the end of its five-year
grant and has applied for funding to keep the organization going for
another five years.

In 2006, Putnam applied for and received a Drug Free Communities
grant, which is funded by the Office of National Drug Control Policy.
PRIDE has worked to create awareness in the community about drug and
alcohol abuse, especially among youth.

Project coordinator Romeo Blackmar has applied for a second cycle of
funding, which would last through September 2016.

Since taking over in 2009, Blackmar has worked to include the
community in PRIDE's initiatives, including partnering with the Putnam
Police Department and the Putnam Business Association.

"Those partnerships were probably the most impactful thing we've
done," Blackmar said. "Rather than just concentrating on the schools,
we've widened our spectrum, our influence."

Currently, 20 percent of the business association's members have
signed a contract agreeing to promote a safe, friendly and drug-free
community.

Improved awareness

Although Blackmar doesn't believe PRIDE has had the impact it had
hoped to have, he said various events it has sponsored have made
awareness much greater.

"People tell me you have to be patient; it's not an overnight
process," he said. "A lot of our programs won't see results for maybe
two, three, four years."

Some programs include two Drug Take Back Days, which collected more
than 350 pounds of unused, unwanted or expired medication. The drugs
were incinerated by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.

PRIDE's Youth Advisory Board has been active in trying to prevent
local stores from selling drug paraphernalia, such as pipes and bongs.
With Cumberland Farms already on board, the group hopes to get all
businesses in Putnam not to sell the items.

"We decided to boycott stores that sell that stuff," Michael
Larochelle, 16, a member of the Youth Advisory Board, said. "We'll go
in and pretend to buy something, like a soda, and say ‘Oh you
sell that stuff here, well we'll go buy our soda somewhere else.' "

Larochelle also said he has noticed a decrease in drug and alcohol use
in the high school since PRIDE started.

Based on survey results of 10th-through 12th-graders, Blackmar said
Putnam is following the national trend: a decrease in tobacco and
alcohol use, but an increase in marijuana use.

"Many states are decriminalizing marijuana and making medical
marijuana available," he said. "When a substance gets social approval,
there is an increase in use."

Blackmar hopes to find out soon if PRIDE has received a grant for
years six through 10. Even if PRIDE is denied, programs will continue
for at least the next year because of her partnership with Community
Prevention and Addiction Services, which received a three-year grant
from the Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services.

"Our strategies will go forward this school year no matter what,"
Blackmar said. "I'm trying to be positive and optimistic."

Putnam parent Julie Sagent said she has seen a difference since PRIDE
started and hopes to see the program continue.

"It has made Putnam much better, it used to be a huge problem area,
but it has cleaned up quite a bit," Sagent said.

This school year, PRIDE plans to focus its campaign on the slogan
"Don't be a party to underage drinking," making people aware of the
consequences of supplying alcohol to minors.