Building a Drug-Free County: A Partnership of Community, Business, Schools, and Government. An Interim Report to the County Executive.

This document is the interim report of a task force on drug and alcohol abuse prevention for Montgomery County, Maryland. The report emphasizes that in order to effect prevention, a partnership between business, schools, and communities is needed. These four tasks of the task force are listed: (1) to determine the extent of the problem; (2) to define target groups for prevention activities; (3) to identify action strategies; and (4) to identify the roles of various community segments. The summary of the report concludes that there is a severe and increasing substance abuse problem in the county, despite increased law enforcement efforts. It recommends focusing on two targets--families with preschool children and school-age children and communities with a high incidence of drug-related crime activities. It is recommended that community gatekeepers and stakeholders be identified and trained in prevention, and that resources to carry out recommendations should include donated time and services as well as money. Additional short- and long-term recommendations are provided. In regard to the future, over the next several months the task force will examine additional areas to establish the groundwork to enable prevention to take its rightful place in sustained efforts to deal with the serious problem of substance abuse. (ABL)