CADCA Disseminates National Sign on Letter to Protect Substance Abuse Prevention Funding From Cuts under Sequestration

Congress has been, and continues to, work on a deal to avert the “fiscal cliff.” If Congress does not reach an agreement by the end of February, all substance abuse prevention programs would be subject to an 8% across the board cut. CADCA drafted and coordinated a letter signed by 16 national organizations, urging Congress to protect substance abuse prevention programs from these cuts. CADCA also mobilized its members in key congressional states and districts to send similar letters. 

The letter reiterates the facts that: 1) over the past seven years, federal investments in youth drug prevention programs have already been cut by 47.3%; and 2) we have already begun to see the ramifications of these cuts, as youth drug use rates have increased during the same time frame. The letter urges Congress to ensure that the small core set of federally funded substance use/abuse prevention programs that are critical to, and effective in, reducing youth substance use rates are not cut. 

These programs include: 

• The Drug Free Communities (DFC) program, funded in the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP); 

• The National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, funded in ONDCP; 

• The Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP), including funding for the Sober Truth on Preventing Underage Drinking programs, funded through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA); 

• The 20% Prevention Set Aside Within the Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant, funded in SAMHSA; and 

• The Enforcing Underage Drinking Laws Program (EUDL), funded through the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention in the Department of Justice. 

CADCA will continue to monitor the programs of interest to our field as the sequestration process moves forward