Other states may be able to adjust to and live with such ravage and attrition, but here in Vermont we are not willing to do that.

In October 2000, a collaboration of law enforcement agencies throughout Vermont successfully seized more than 1,000 bags of heroin from three Vermont communities. A month later, three Rutland residents were murdered after a night of excessive drinking and drug use. And Vermonters were again saddened by the January 2001 death of Christal Jones, the 16-year-old Vermont girl who lost her life in an apartment in the Bronx after her apparent involvement in a prostitution and drug shuttling scheme.

In February 2001, I convened two town meetings, one in Burlington and the other in Rutland, to address the growing problem of heroin addiction. Those in attendance included Governor Howard Dean; state legislators; local officials; local, state and federal law enforcement representatives; educators; youth program leaders; and prevention and treatment officials.

Early on, I came to realize that increased law enforcement efforts alone will not help Vermont win the war on drugs. Instead, I called for a comprehensive three-prong approach to combating substance abuse: prevention, enforcement and treatment. We must do what we can to support the efforts of law enforcement to safeguard our communities, particularly by deterring involvement of our young people in drug abuse. We must also increase the emphasis on education and treatment, more use of drug courts and more methadone clinics to help heroin addicts stay off illegal drugs.

Since 2001, I have secured more than $23 million dollars in targeted appropriations and grants to support prevention, treatment and law enforcement efforts in Vermont. I joined with colleagues in 2002 to make law the 21st Century Department of Justice Appropriations Authorization Act, which has moved federal anti-drug policy toward a more balanced approach that includes added attention to prevention and treatment. This legislation authorized $172 million through fiscal year 2005 to support State and local adult and juvenile drug courts, which provide treatment as an alternative to jail for nonviolent offenders who stay off of drugs; authorized the use of Federal funds for jail-based substance abuse programs, which attempt to reduce recidivism by reducing drug dependency among prisoners; established a Federal demonstration project to reduce recidivism by recently-released offenders, and authorizes funding to assist similar State projects; and authorized funding for Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) police training in South and Central Asia to reduce the supply of drugs entering the United States.