This is in addition to the 55 million that was awarded in July to keep current programs in force.  These grants will support all 50 states, The District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, Virgin Islands, and Palau.

Additionally, there will be 14 new grants totaling nearly 1 million dollars to support mentoring programs.  This will help develop more self-supporting anti drug communities in the US.

Director Waters said, “Youth drug use has dropped 24% since 2001, due in large part to the active and effective engagement of strong community anti-drug coalitions, and we are proud to support their efforts.”

“The Drug-Free Communities program helps communities get the hard work of prevention done,” said SAMHSA Administrator Terry Cline, Ph.D.  “By connecting local programs, systems, and funding streams through these new grants, the full force of the community will be brought to bear on preventing drug abuse and promoting healthy, productive lives.”

The Drug-Free Communities program was created under the Drug-Free Communities Act of 1997.  The program has earned strong bipartisan support from the President and Congress.  Because of this the program has also earned major funding priorities.  In December 2006, President Bush and Congress passed a five-year extension of the Drug-Free Communities Act.

The program is administered in conjunction with SAMHSA.  You can find out more about SAMHSA and the government programs by visiting http://www.samhsa.gov.

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Find more about drug prevention programs here.

It’s time as a parent to step up to the plate and confront your teens!!!

Drug use and prevention is one of the most frightening discussions you will ever have as a parent with your teen. According to one recent study, teenagers whose parents talk to them on a regular basis about the dangers of drug use are 42 percent less likely to use drugs than those whose parents don’t. As difficult as it is to bring up the issue of drug use with your teen, simply talking about drug use may not be enough to fully protect your child from experimenting with and using drugs.

How can this be solved? The answer is simple. In-home drug testing! If your teen knows you have the ability to perform a drug test at home on a moments notice, they are going to be even less likely to experiment with drugs. In-home drug testing can be an extremely powerful deterrent tool in preventing drug use! It becomes an “easy out” to peer pressure as well. Your teen can tell their friends, “No, my parents may drug test me when I get home and I have to be clean or they will ground me… take away my car… wont let me go out…” Isn’t this worth providing piece of mind as a parent knowing that your teen is held accountable for their actions?

Drug Free Network is a great resource to buy in-home drug testing kits. The drug test kits come with a 10 panel urine drug test, an alcohol test, and a nicotine detection test. These tests are affordable, simple to use, and give accurate results within 5 minutes! One of the best tools in the kit is the contract that parents and the teens sign stating that they live in a “Drug Free” household. Also included in the kit are lists of local resources for counseling and treatment centers as well as a guide to parents which discusses the signs and symptoms of drug use, the many types of illegal drugs, and dangers associated with them.

In addition to using these simple to use drug tests as a deterrent, you could actually save your child’s life by identifying a problem with drugs before law enforcement or school personnel intervention or even death!

Home drug testing is easier than every before. Home drug test kits are reliable and readily available.

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Find more drug testing solutions and news on the Fighting Drug Abuse blog.

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