U.S. SENATOR PATRICK LEAHY

Vermont Communities Get Federal Funds To Fight Drugs
…$199,000 To Boost Local Anti-Drug Efforts
In Rutland And Orleans-Essex Counties 

(MONDAY, September 27) – Sen. Patrick Leahy Monday announced that two anti-drug coalitions in Vermont will receive $199,856 in federal funds from the Department of Justice’s Drug-Free Communities grant program to bolster drug prevention and education efforts.    

The Rutland Area Prevention Coalition was awarded $99,856, and the Orleans-Essex VNA & Hospice will receive $100,000 to establish coordinated efforts within those communities to educate youth and parents on the dangers of alcohol, tobacco and drug use and promote ways to reduce substance abuse.  

The funds are awarded through the Drug-Free Communities Program administered by the Department of Justice’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.  Funds from this program are used to prevent and reduce drug, alcohol, and tobacco abuse among youth and strengthen community anti-drug coalitions between community organizations, law enforcement agencies and state anti-drug offices, Leahy said.    

“Vermont communities, urban and rural, are seeing our children exposed to drugs and alcohol at younger ages than parents dared imagine even a few decades ago,” said Leahy, the ranking Democratic member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, which authorized and oversees the Drug-Free Communities grant program, created in 1997.  “These communities have stepped up to the plate to do their part in fighting this fight, and these grants will help them form strong and visible anti-drug programs at the local level to combat this problem in several ways.”  

Vermont anti-drug groups and coalitions have received $1.25 million in Drug-Free Community grants so far this year.   

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