EASTOVER GETS GRANT TO STUDY DRUG ABUSE

A $16,000 grant will help identify the reasons kids in Eastover get
involved with alcohol and other drugs.

The town just received the grant from the S.C. Department of Alcohol and
Other Drug Abuse Services.

Most of it will go to Tidwell & Associates, consultants who'll do a survey
on the problem. That work should be done in the next two months, said Mayor
Chris Campbell.

The survey will be aimed at "finding out the root causes of alcohol and
other drug abuse" among youth ages 12 to 17, Campbell said. Students at
Webber Elementary in Eastover and Southeast Middle School and Lower
Richland High School in Hopkins will be consulted.

Then town officials are hoping to get another $75,000 grant for prevention
programs.

The initial grant will also hire two teen-agers and a secretary, and pay
for administrative services for the project.

The money will go farther with volunteers on a 15-member committee formed
to address the drug-abuse issue.

The coalition, headed by James Faber, comprises representatives from
schools, health centers, police, churches and volunteers.

In a news release, Rick Wade, director of the state's drug-abuse agency,
said: "If we are going to be successful in producing healthy citizens, it
will take all of us ... working together to make that happen."