Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions

Floor Speech

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Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, throughout my years in Congress, I have worked to keep drugs out of our communities. We have all seen the destructive impact drugs have on our communities, and our families. For years, we have heard tragic stories of the lives impacted by drug abuse. These problems plague our society and we must remain united in this struggle to end abuse and addiction.

In 1997 I, along with then-Senator Biden, sponsored legislation to create the Drug Free Communities, DFC, program. I believed then--as I still do today--that one of the most effective ways to prevent drug abuse is by supporting community antidrug coalitions to identify, prevent and eradicate the sources of abuse at the grass roots. Since the enactment of the Drug Free Communities Act, thousands of community antidrug coalitions have received Federal support to further their efforts to halt drug abuse in their communities.

Coalitions, across the country and in my home State of Iowa, are confronted with unique challenges, but they are leading their communities in finding ways to overcome them. For example, the Van Buren Safe Coalition in Keosauqua, IA implemented comprehensive community wide strategies to address the growing marijuana problem in their community. They conducted town hall meetings to raise awareness about the dangers of drug use; facilitated various community and youth education opportunities; and partnered with local schools to ensure drug policies and codes of conduct were in place. As a result, the Van Buren County SAFE Coalition reduced marijuana use among 11th graders by one-third in a 5-year time span according to the Iowa Youth Survey.

The Kossuth Connections coalition, which is headquartered in Algona, IA, is also taking action to fight underage drinking and smoking within its communities. According to the Iowa Youth Survey, current underage drinking and smoking, although still below the statewide average, has increased slightly between 2008 and 2010 in this county. As a result, the Kossuth Connections coalition has partnered with local businesses that sell alcohol and tobacco to ensure compliance with laws requiring age restrictions on selling alcohol and tobacco products. Youth from the county have surveyed area stores, inspected advertisements and product placements, and helped to determine whether or not the store displays a ``We ID'' sticker at the counter. These youth are committed to ensuring local stores are in compliance with the law and are actively working to reduce underage drinking and smoking.

These coalitions are a small sampling, but they represent the incredible efforts that many are putting into controlling and reducing drug abuse in our communities. Now is not the time to abandon community drug prevention efforts.

Unfortunately, recent trends indicate youth drug use nationally is on the rise and new synthetic drugs like K2/Spice and bath salts are gaining in popularity. In fact, the latest Monitoring the Future Survey indicates that one in nine high school seniors used synthetic drugs like K2/Spice in the past year. This is the first year this survey tested students on synthetic drug use. The high number of users in such a short time span illustrates how rapidly drug use can spread among certain populations and communities. It is discouraging to see these surveys and to read about more tragedies on a daily basis. These negative trends will continue if they are not aggressively addressed.

It is vital that communities are made aware of abuse trends and the new drugs coming on the horizon. The actions community antidrug coalitions can take to stem the growing tide of rising drug abuse, like synthetic drug abuse, can and have made a real difference. By holding town hall meetings, launching school programs, and confronting local businesses that market or sell inappropriate products community coalitions are making a real positive difference.

Whether it is a synthetic drug outbreak, a meth epidemic in a Midwestern town, or an increase in underage drinking, community antidrug coalitions will lead the way to unite their community against drug abuse. It is vital in these tough times that these coalitions continue to receive support from their communities and from the Federal Government. That is why I am pleased to join my colleague, Senator Leahy, in introducing a bill to reauthorize The Drug Free Communities Support Program for an additional 5 years.

This reauthorizing legislation recognizes the good work local antidrug coalitions have done over the years, but it also recognizes the fact that resources at the Federal level are tight and that authorizations need to more closely resemble appropriations. Further, this program is part of an ongoing review conducted by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) that I, along with Senator Feinstein, requested to study the effectiveness of the program. This study will take some time to develop and should not hinder our efforts to reauthorize the program, but should also be taken into consideration once the results are available.

We must remain vigilant and not relent in our efforts to eradicate drug abuse. Drug abuse flourishes when the problem is ignored. If we are going to make a better future for our children and communities, we must face this menace together.

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