YMCA OF HONOLULU RECEIVES $350,000 FEDERAL GRANT TO FIGHT METHAMPHETAMINE AND INHALANT ABUSE AMONG YOUTH

For Immediate Release: October 10, 2003

YMCA OF HONOLULU RECEIVES $350,000 FEDERAL GRANT TO FIGHT METHAMPHETAMINE AND INHALANT ABUSE AMONG YOUTH

HONOLULU – Less than one month after Hawai`i received more than $4.5 million from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to help fight illicit drug abuse, Lt. Governor James R. “Duke” Aiona Jr. announced that the YMCA of Honolulu has received $350,000 from SAMHSA to prevent inhalant and crystal methamphetamine (“ice”) abuse among youth.

The YMCA grant is part of a $12 million federal grant announced by SAMHSA Administrator Charles G. Curie to be awarded over three years to 12 different programs in 11 states. 

The YMCA of Honolulu will receive $350,000 for the first year.  The program will focus on community-based intervention to prevent inhalant and methamphetamine use among Asian and Pacific Islander adolescents between the ages of 11-14.  The program is expected to receive the same amount in both the second and third year.

Seven out of ten abusers of inhalants – which can include such common substances as glue, gasoline, and household chemicals – are under the age of 18.  Methamphetamine abuse has been spreading east from Hawai`i and the West and is a serious addiction problem on the West Coast, in the Mountain States and parts of the Midwest.  Both problems are increasingly found in small towns and rural areas.  The SAMHSA awards will be renewable depending on outcomes and availability of funding.

“These grants will fund local efforts to expand the capacity of public and private health care, educational, and community organizations to address the abuse of methamphetamine and inhalants, especially by young people,” Curie said.  “SAMHSA is determined to keep young people away from the serious health and addiction problems associated with methamphetamine and inhalants.”

Last month, Curie spoke at the Hawai`i Drug Control Strategy Summit and presented Governor Linda Lingle and Lt. Governor Aiona with a check for $3,635,000 to provide treatment to Hawai`i residents having co-occurring substance abuse and health mental disorders.  In addition, Curie presented Lt. Governor Aiona and Mayor Harry Kim with a check for $893,986 to help prevent and treat the abuse of crystal methamphetamine on the Big Island. 

“While in Hawai`i, Mr. Curie reassured Governor Lingle and myself that SAMHSA and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services are committed to helping our state fight illicit drug use,” said Lt. Governor Aiona.  “This latest federal grant will go a long way toward preventing inhalant and ice abuse among our youth.”

SAMHSA is a public health agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.  The agency is responsible for improving the accountability, capacity, and effectiveness of the nation’s substance abuse prevention, addictions treatment, and mental health service delivery systems.

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