Press Releases
Dingell Announces $125,000 Grant for ACCESS to Prevent Substance Abuse in Youths
Washington,
September 9, 2020
DEARBORN, MI - Today, Congresswoman Debbie Dingell (MI-12) announced that that Arab Community Center for Economic & Social Services (ACCESS) in Dearborn will receive $125,000 grant from the Office of National Drug Control Policy and Drug-Free Communities Support Program to implement programs to prevent youth substance use, including abuse of prescription drugs, marijuana, tobacco, and alcohol. The ACCESS Substance Abuse and Tobacco Prevention/Cessation program provides Dearborn students and parents with the information and skills necessary to make healthy choices about drugs, alcohol, and smoking. Much of the program’s work focuses on the hookah or argileh, a tobacco water-pipe popular among Arab Americans and others. In addition to tobacco, the program educates local youth and parents on the risks of marijuana, alcohol, and prescription drugs. “This critical funding will help ACCESS continue their important work in addressing the serious risks of drug and tobacco use,” said Dingell. “Tackling the substance abuse problem in our local community will need local solutions. I will continue to work with ACCESS and others to address the substance abuse and erase the stigma associated with mental health issues.” “ACCESS is very appreciative of Congresswoman Dingell’s critical support in securing a federal grant to combat substance abuse addiction among youth. Community health continues to be one of ACCESS’ top priorities, and we cannot find a better champion for this work than Congresswoman Dingell,” said Hassan Jaber, President & CEO of ACCESS. Prescription drug abuse prevention is one of the core measures of effectiveness for local Drug-Free Communities coalitions, and coalitions nationwide have led innovative prevention initiatives to raise awareness on the risks involved with the misuse of alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and prescription drugs. Drug-Free Communities’ 2020 National Evaluation Report found that at least 96 percent of middle school and 88 percent of high school youth report that they have not used tobacco or tobacco products in the past 30-days in Drug-Free Communities. ### |