GRANT FUNDS SUBSTANCE PREVENTION

Earlier this month, the Middlesex County Department of Human Services
settled on a $703,504 allocation to fund drug and alcohol prevention
programs throughout the county. The total amount and the money split
between each community were respectively determined by a formula based upon
the total population of Middlesex County as a whole and the distinct
population of each town in the county.

A variety of programs are being created for children as young as
preschoolers to senior citizens. These programs focus on the prevention of
substance abuse specifically - as opposed to the treatment of it. In the
city, the target is elementary school children and some teenagers.

One main program New Brunswick Alliance coordinator Dave Blevins has set up
is a social decisions program, in which children are taught "skills in how
to resist the lure of alcohol, drugs and tobacco." Another program is
mainly to teach children ages nine-12 about the effects of tobacco.

A third unique program is Teens Helping Teens, in which teenagers are shown
"how to operate video equipment and given the means so that they may create
their own alcohol, drug and tobacco prevention videos," Blevins said.

The governor's Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependency and the state's Drug
Enforcement and Demand Reduction Fund provided the funds for the programs.
This funding is then given to municipal alliance groups in each community -
citizens' organizations consisting of professionals and volunteers
concentrated on preventing the use of alcohol, tobacco and other drugs.

The short-term results of these programs are very difficult to gauge. The
prevention of substance abuse is generally a long-term strategy. Doug
Breen, coordinator of the Middlesex County Alliance, said drug and alcohol
problems evolved over a long period of time and will take a long time to
fix. "[Similar] to the prevention of coronary heart diseases, ... it may
take a generation [for these prevention programs] to start making a
difference," Breen said.