Grants to

help fight

drug and

alcohol

By Linda Lemmon

Town Crier Editor

PUTNAM ---  With some pride, town officials are directing two new grants toward a drug and alcohol-free young population.

Douglas M. Cutler, project director of Putnam Partnership to Reduce the Influence of Drugs for Everyone (PRIDE), said the town recently received a $125,000 Drug Free Community Coalition grant and a $48,875 Sober Truth About Underage Drinking Prevention grant. 

Both are federal grants from the Department of Health and Human Services through its Substance Abuse and Mental Services Administration. They both started Oct. 1. The $125,000 grant is the seventh out of a 10-year grant program. The second one is the third year out of five years.

Cutler said past efforts which run the gamut are having an effect and that tangible success helped the town win those grants against some very heavy competition.

He pointed to a survey which shows that there has been a 15 percent drop --- between 2010 and 2012 --- in the number of middle school students who report drug or alcohol use. Likewise, the town has seen a 4 percent drop in high school freshmen reporting the same.

"We've shown success," Cutler said, and this helped win the grants.

Plans for the grant money include continuing the social host media campaign which lets parents know the dangers of hosting parties with alcohol at home. There is also a social norming campaign that concentrates on middle school students' awareness of drugs and alcohol.  Many programs will get a boost including a leadership training program for students, training for bars and restaurants and multicultural training and many more. 

"We're really zeroing in on these goals," he said.

Cutler said the town has been working to reduce the influence of drugs and alcohol since 1998 as a coalition.

He added that the PRIDE coalition consists of 12 sectors some of which include faith, media, schools, youth groups, businesses and more.