DRUG PREVENTION WORKS IN FLORIDA

Florida has recently experienced a tremendous victory in drug-prevention
efforts. Our children are showing a reversal of trends that show increased
drug use nationwide by consistently rejecting drug use for a third
consecutive year.

In this year's Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey, nearly 63,000
sixth-through 12th-graders reported significant declines in drug use and
alcohol and tobacco use as well. Each percent drop in decreased drug use
indicated 25,000 fewer teens using drugs.

Why has Florida seen declining drug-use numbers while the rest of the
nation's usage rates are going up? Because our approach to the systemic
drug problem our nation faces has differed from other states. Gov. Jeb Bush
has identified that much of the effort to bring down drug abuse should be
focused on prevention, education and treatment, with prevention being the
strategic linchpin of the entire strategy. What the research shows is that
children who grow to adulthood without abusing drugs, smoking tobacco and
drinking alcohol are highly unlikely to develop an addiction problem later
in life. The solution, then, is to keep as many children free from
substance abuse as we can, an outcome we are achieving.

Throughout his term in office, the governor has expanded the state's annual
treatment and prevention budget by more than 30 percent, doubled the number
of drug courts (which stress treatment in lieu of incarceration for more
than 11,000 non-violent first-time drug offenders a year), visited
countless treatment and prevention centers and led the rallying cry of
concerned parents and neighborhoods to turn their children away from drug
abuse and bring help to the afflicted.

For those who are already caught up in addictions, the answer, whenever
possible, is treatment. That is why the governor has increased treatment
funding in Florida by $50 million in additional state and federal funds and
increased the number of people in state supported treatment by 38 percent,
to a total of 140,845. Drug courts, which offer treatment in lieu of
incarceration for non-violent offenders charged with a drug offense, have
doubled in the past three years. In the end, we seek to return those drug
abusers to productive citizenship free of their addiction.

This week, Orlando is host to the 16th annual Statewide Drug Prevention
Conference, where more than 1,000 participants from federal and state
government, public and private organizations, community coalitions and
involved youth will gather to discuss the effectiveness of current
prevention strategies and learn and share new methods and ideas.
Participants will take part in workshops, discussions and activities in
which the constant free flow of ideas will lead to innovative and effective
means to continue prevention efforts.

James R. McDonough is the director of the Florida Office of Drug Control.