Teen drug programs face cuts

AUGUSTA – As the state works harder to curb drug and alcohol abuse among teenagers, looming federal budget cuts that would affect law enforcement and youth prevention programs threaten that progress, officials said Wednesday.

“We realize that this country is fighting a war, but there is a war going on here, too, a war for our children’s future,” Maine Attorney General Steven Rowe said at a news conference at the State House. “And we need the support of the federal government.”

President Bush’s proposed budget plan, which has been endorsed by the House Budget Committee, would slash law enforcement and juvenile prevention funding.

Many in Maine feel that money is essential for keeping children away from drugs and alcohol, and in turn, crime.

“Teen alcohol and drug abuse does lead to a life of adult crime,” said Geoffrey Rushlau, district attorney for Knox, Waldo, Sagadahoc and Lincoln counties. “Maine does not have the resources to deal with this on our own.”

Rushlau and Rowe joined Evert Fowle, district attorney for Somerset and Kennebec counties, and Mary Small, state director for Fight Crime: Invest in Kids, to present a report on teen drug and alcohol abuse in rural Maine.

Fight Crime, a nonprofit, bipartisan organization of law enforcement officials, prosecutors and other state leaders, prepared the report.

The news conference and report set the stage for Rowe and others to urge Congress to protect federal funding for what the attorney general called “evidence-based, crime prevention” programs from Head Start to juvenile drug court.

“Sadly, we’re seeing efforts to cut programs for children,” Rowe said. “One of the most effective weapons [for prevention] is early education.”

The 15-page report highlights that drug and alcohol abuse in rural counties is nearly double the state average, according to the 2004 Maine Youth Drug and Alcohol Use Survey.

For example, one in six 17- and 18-year-olds in Knox County are using cocaine, and teens in Waldo County are twice as likely to use Ecstasy as teens statewide.

Fowle said after-school programs, among other approaches, act as a deterrent and that “relentless federal cutbacks” put those services in peril.

“There are alternatives that steer teens away from a life of crime,” he said. “We want to get them before they get to that point.

“It breaks my heart to think of a future without these programs.”

The report detailed how the budget cuts would affect certain programs, claiming that 550 Maine children would be cut out of Head Start by 2011 and 1,311 would suffer from cuts made to the Child Care and Development Block Grant.

Fowle called the proposed budget “foolish” and said that maintaining funding for those programs would save money in the long run.

“It would be prudent to invest in [students’] well-being,” he said.

Maine Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe, along with U.S. Reps. Michael Michaud and Tom Allen, both Democrats, have come out against certain aspects of the president’s budget.

“It is imperative that steps be taken to thwart the abuse of alcohol and other harmful substances,” Collins said Wednesday. “I was pleased to join a number of my colleagues in sending a letter recently to the Appropriations Committee urging members to restore $400 million in funding for the Safe and Drug Free Schools and Communities’ State Grants program in the Fiscal Year 2007 budget.”

The federal budget won’t be decided for several months, but in the meantime Attorney General Rowe continues to work against underage drinking. He already has spoken at several community forums across the state on teen alcohol abuse, and he said more are planned.

“It’s a real problem and I think people are starting to see how devastating the issue is,” Rowe said. “We need to set better boundaries, and everyone from parents to educators to police must work together.”

For more information or to view the report, visit the Fight Crime Web site at www.fightcrime.org.