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WAADA receives $76,000
Monies will address underage binge drinking

Governor Janet Napolitano presents a check to representatives of the Williams Alliance Against Drug Abuse on Oct. 16. The $76,000 grant will be used to address underage binge drinking in and around Williams. Pictured from left are: David McIntire, Brad Massey, Gov. Napolitano, Beth Britton and Patricia Helgeson.

Governor Janet Napolitano presents a check to representatives of the Williams Alliance Against Drug Abuse on Oct. 16. The $76,000 grant will be used to address underage binge drinking in and around Williams. Pictured from left are: David McIntire, Brad Massey, Gov. Napolitano, Beth Britton and Patricia Helgeson.

At the Governor's Roundtable Conversation on Methamphetamine and Substance Abuse, held Oct. 16 in Flagstaff, community collaboration and support ranked highest in importance. Between nations, and at state, county, local and familial levels, coordination of ideas, funds, strengths and assets was the overwhelming theme.

"We don't need to reinvent the wheel, we need to get the wheels going together," Governor Janet Napolitano said.

The meeting was convened by the Coconino County Board of Supervisors and County Meth Task force and attended by approximately 50 individuals. Representatives from various locations and organizations including the Navajo and Hopi Nations, State Department of Health Services, Coconino County Sheriff, Flagstaff Police Department, and communities of Page, Williams, Flagstaff, Polacca and Tuba City were present to discuss the most effective ways to combat substance abuse and the newest drug to reek havoc in our communities: methamphetamine.

From a Williams perspective, the event was especially promising as a check of $76,000 was presented to the Williams Alliance Against Drug Abuse to address underage binge drinking.

A check in the amount of $126,000 was also presented to Citizens Against Substance Abuse (CASA), which will be used throughout Coconino County. According to CASA representative Connie Leto, additional partners for this award are still being sought. The proposed focus has included substance abuse prevention and rehabilitation in Flagstaff, Page and Fredonia; however, other interested organizations and individuals in Coconino County still have the opportunity to be part of this effort.

District Four Supervisor Deb Hill explained that the County Meth Task Force was created less than a year ago following public outcry for the need to help families dealing with methamphetamine use and abuse.

"Families were asking, 'Why aren't you doing more?'" she said.

Since then, the Task Force members have researched ways to most appropriately attack the unique needs of methamphetamine users, their families and friends.

"Ultimately our goal is to reintegrate those individuals back into the community, but we're just at the beginning," Hill said.

Coconino County Sheriff Bill Pribil detailed his enthusiasm in the recent voter approval of the Jail District Sales Tax increase as well as the intended use of these funds.

"We need to concentrate more on rehabilitation and a meaningful in-custody drug treatment program," Pribil said. "Our big challenge will be in making the link or transition between custody and the community."

He said that when persons incarcerated for substance abuse are released from jail and the rehabilitation program, they need the full support of the community in order to remain abstinent.

"It's a big challenge and I know our community can meet that challenge," he said.

Pribil is currently researching several in-custody treatment programs in the Southwest and plans to also incorporate culturally appropriate strategies to service specific populations and individuals. It is Pribil's hope that the program will be instituted in early 2007.

State Department of Health Services Bureau Chief Christy Dye explained the treatment for methamphetamine users is unique in that it is long (typically six to nine months) and intense.

Following the panel discussion, a question and answer period was held in which several community members discussed their experience with methamphetamine scenarios.

A Northern Arizona University graduate student who is researching the effects of methamphetamines and is also a former methamphetamine user said that the most important part of his recovery was the support of community organizations. Following his release from custody, he said, he acquired a job in which he earned approximately $7,000 per year, lived in a group, community-funded home, and received other forms of support.

"My first priority was recovery," he said.

Due to the assistance he received, he stayed off methamphetamines and became part of society once again.

Another speaker, a substance abuse counselor from Hopi High School, discussed a current program funded through the state of Arizona in which Hopi High School students work with Second Mesa Day School students to discuss the implications and effects of abusing methamphetamines and other substances.

According to the speaker, the act of uniting the students of different ages is incredibly effective.

Following this speaker Gov. Napolitano emphasized the importance of assessing and analyzing the effectiveness of these types of programs.

"We need to be very hard on ourselves as far as evaluating our progress," she said.

"Our questions need to be, 'are we benchmarking?' and 'are we evaluating the short term and the long term success?' We need to find out what really works and, if that's really working, how can we take this and use it in other parts of the state?" Napolitano said.

Napolitano explained that by sharing resources and ideas, communities would be most successful in substance abuse prevention and rehabilitation.

"We're not going to state government our way out of this, though," Napolitano said. "We have to leverage our dollars together if we're going to find our way out of this."

To learn more about the Governor's Methamphetamine program visit http://azgovernor.gov.

For more information about CASA call (928) 779-5361; to learn more about the Coconino County Meth Task Force call (928) 779-6695 or toll free (800) 559-9289.


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