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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1981-09-08; City Council; 6736; Drug and Alchohol Abuse Information Programf I_ Cl crr~oF CARLSBAD -AGENJ~ BILL AB# (p 7 ,3 /.r, TITLE: MTG. 9 -8-Sl DRUG AND ALCOHOL ABUSE INFORMATION PROGRAM DEPT. POL RECOMMENDED ACTION: DEPT.HD.~lfr' CITY ATTY \Jt.8 CITY MGR.A • Establish an information delivery program for the delivery of drug and alcohol abuse information to parents of school age children through the utilization of the Neighborhood Watch System and current Crime Prevention Program. • Enlist the aid of H.O.P.E. Through Education, Inc. to bring the necessary material and to p;•ovide the other necessary demonstration material. Allow H.O.P.E. Through Education to solicit advertisements from local businesses to pay for the costs of printing and related overhead. Allow Chief of Police to enter into ron-cost agreement for H.O.P.E. Through Education's services. • Authorize the Chief of Police to meet with the executive board of the Chamber of I Commerce to present the program and solicit the Chamber's support. Item Explanation: The Police Department is interested in developing a program for the delivery of drug and alcohol abuse information to parents of school age ch,ildren through the already established Neighborhood Watch System. It was learned that a very suc- cessful and often used information booklet has been developed and distributed in many California cities by H.O.P.E. Through Education, Inc. The firm has been able to develop a very informative booklet and print it at much less cost than local print shops. Also provided in the program are educational displays for program presentations to the public. Secondly, t~e firm offers cities wishing to participate alternate ways to finance the cost. The firm allows a direct purchase by the city or sells advertisements to local businesses to cover the cost of the booklets. The second alternative is a community-government cooperative effort. This issue is before the Council to gain final approval of the concept and finan- cing vehicle. In an August Council meeting, Council had discussed this issue and expressed approval of the general concept, but had not considered the specific financing approach. The alternatives that were taken into consideration included: LJJ I 0 A1i in-house team to develop information, have material printed locally and distribute through the Neighborhood Watch System. This approach was found to be least efficient, would take longer, would not be as complete and would cost more. ~ 0:: a.. a.. <( z 0 ti < .J 0 z ::, 0 0 0 Second alternative looked at was the utilization of the H.O.P.E. material paid for from City funds. This alternative is preferred, but is costly to the City. In this alternative, a reduction in the number of booklets could be authorized reducing the cost to the City by one-h~lf; .. however, this would also reduce the required material by one-half. o Finally, the H.O.P.E. material was considered with cost covered by the adver- tisement sales approach. This approach suggests that if the program is worthwhile, the community should participate in the program. The community participates directly through financial support. The City, in turn, provides manpower, coordination and the delivery system. I ,, I I DRUG AND ALCOHOL ABUSE INFORMATION PROGRAM Page Two Fi seal Impact Alternative I (In-house developed material) This alternative is estimated at $13,500 for printing and approxima~cly $2,500 for research and development. Total cost: $16,000 Alternative II (Use of H.O.P.E. Material -City covers cost~ Four thousand booklets@ $2.25 eac or $9,000. Reduced program would be 2,000 booklets@ $2.25 each or $4,500. Both estimates include print costs and ten percent of printing costs for company. Alternative III (Use of H.O.P.E. material -advertisement sales approach) Four thousand booklets@ $3.25 or $13,900. This estimate includes printing costs, overhead due to securin~ cf advertisements and ten percent of printing costs for company. Currently, there are no funds available in the Police Department's budget for thi5 program. Should the Council approve the program and authorize the City to pay foi• the program directly, $9,COO would have to be transferred from the Reserve Contin- gency Fund. Should the Council elect to support the recommendation, there would be no need to transfer 7tmds. Exhibits A. Drug and Alcohol Abuse Infonnation Delivery Program Recommendation, Memorandum dated August 20, 1981 B. Letter from H.O.P.E. Through Education, Inc. ....e; DATE: TO: FROM: August 20, 1981 Frank Aleshire, City Manager .// Vincent D. Jimno, Chief of Police/~ DRUG AND ALCOHOL ABUSE INFORMATION DELIVERY PROGRAM RECOMMENDATION 0 Establish an information delivery program for the delivery of drug and alcohol abuse information to the community. 0 Develop a program of information and training primarily for parents so they may know how to deal with problems of drug and alcohol abuse. 0 Utilize the Neighborhood Watch and Crime Prevention Programs as the main delivery vehicle. 0 Enli5t the aid of H.O.P.E. Through Education, Inc. to print the necessary mate- rial and to acquire the other necessary demonstration material. 0 Allow H.O.P.E. Through Education, Inc. to solicit advertisements to pay for the necessary material in order to defer the cost from the taxpayer. 0 Meet with the Chamber of Commerce Executive Board to present a program and to ask for their support. Background Over the past year, a noticeable demand for information on drug and alcohol abuse by parents has been felt by the police department. It is estimated that between seven to ten calls a month are being received by juvenile officers from parents to answer questions regarding substance abuse. The questions cover the entire spectrum. Some cf the questions that are being asked include: What does cocaine look like? It is possible for a 12 year old to be an alcoholic? If my child is abusing alcohol, what do I do? I think my daughter is smoking pot, what should I do? Where do I get help for my son who is on drugs? What does marijuana look like? How do you tell the difference between herion and cocair1e? It is important to recognize that the few people who do call are eitr.er very des- perate or have no knowledge of what they are dealing with or what to do about it when the do identify the problem. Looking into the situation in more ..i".pth and contacting the many p1:·ople who either service Carlsbad or are directly connected with the community, I have found that there are many restricted and dangerous substances available to the y0'.1th and citizens of Car1sbad. Local school officials generally agree that drugs and alco- hol are readily available to anyone who wishes to have them. Although it has not been publicized as a major public issue in the last few years, the problem has never really gone away and continues to be a significant problem to overcome for both parents and school officials. The latest trends indicate that there is a move from marijuana to cocaine and/or alcohol. The rationale behind this move is the relevant increase in the cost of marijuana to the proximity of that of cocaine. Cocaine, for the same amount of money~ gives a greater high that is sustained. 3 / Drug and Alcohol ,,..,use Information Delivery Program Recommendation Page Two Recently, there has also been a major shift back to the use of alcohol by young people. It is common to have several major parties in the city of Carlsbad dur- ing the summer months in which great quantities of alcohol are provided for young- sters at these parties. In many instances, it has been found that parents them- selves were providing alc1)holic beverages or condoning it by not taking action to resist use of alcohol. Someof the significant problems that have come from these types of parties include the increased liability exposure that is incurred by the people providing the alcoholic beverages, as well as the bad example provided by these parents who appear to be condoning the use of alcohol. Many of these instances end in an unfortunate accident in which the parents of the youngster who had the party are now liable for the injury to some participant who came to the party o~ beco~e liable for the damage caused by the youngsters and young people who tear up a neighborhood. In checking with Lydia Stinemeyer, administrative aid to the Housing and Develop- ment Director, it was found that in 1977, a public opinion survey was conducted of the citizens of Carlsbad with the results indicating that eighteen percent of the people surveyed felt that drug abuse services were not satisfactory for the citizens. Even more importantly was that fifteen percent of the people surveyed indicated that alcohol services ~ere inadequate. Professionals in Carlsbad indicated that they felt the two of the ten most serious problems faced by the community today are drug and alcohol abuse and they rank number three and five respectively. In taking a closer look at data that indicates how Carlsbad is doing, it was found that from 1979, to the present, Carlsbad took a passive role in dealing with these problems. With the exception of participation in the San Diego County Narcotics Task Force, there has been no significant or emphasized program dealing with nar- cotics or alcohol abuse. The San Diego County Narcotic Task Force deals primarily in major narcotic dis- tributors. However, in looking at statistics with major traffickers since Octo- ber, 1979, to date, some 36 major traffickers were identified and arrested in Carlsbad by the Task Force. The Task Force identifies a major trafficker as one who regularly smuggles, manufactures, cultivates or distributes multi-kilograms quantities of controlled substances usually in concert with one or more individ- uals who are his partn:.•rs or his employees. In dealing with specifics about Carlsbad itself on the local level, it is found that although Carlsbad has not actively pursued or undertaken undercover operations in order to ferret out local dealers, there are some significant indications as to the problems. In 1980, 43 felony violations of narcotic and dangerous drugs were filed, as well as 65 misdemeanor violations. Even more significant, however, was in the alcohol abuse area, some 711 alcohol offenses were reported whir.h included 291 violations for drunk driving. Five of these drunk driving incidents resulted in felony chargss due to people being killed or severely injured because the dri- ver was heavily intoxicated. Finally> a police officer who previously worked as a diversion officer and counsel- lor indicates that during his diversion work, he identified at least 12 youngsters between the ages of 12 and 14 years who were alcoholics. This officer indicated that he was convinced that there were at least twice that many in the community yet to be discovered. Urua and Alcohol ~~..':).use Information Deliverv Proor~·~Recommendation Page Three Many of the parents today lack adequate information in which to recognize minor problems before they become significant problems. Th is program intends to prov·ide adequate information regarding drugs and alcohol for parents in order for them to be able to identify a problem when they see it in th6ir own or in a neighbor's home and to have a relatively confident knowledge as to wr.ere to look for assist- ance. The program will be addressing this goal through visual, verbal and printed material presented by trained police officers. Contacts have been made with the various counselling agencies that are supported by public funds. A discussion has been held with Jay Delanie, comrounity coordinator for M.I.T.E. (MacAlister Institute for Traini~g and Education), Vista. Mr. Delanie indicated that he was impressed with the efforts and in agreement with the way . the program was being introduced. He went on to indicate he was extremely happy with the low profile information technique to be used. He stated that he did not expect anymore than a ten percent increase in the client structure that his or other referral agencies would have to deJl with due to this program. He did indi- cate, however, that should there be a major influx of clients, his agency would be happy to service their needs. Preliminary contact with the other agencies who would also be affected, such as Narcotics Anonymous, Alcoholic Anonymous and A.I.D. (Alcoholics Intervention and Diversion) all indicated pretty much the same feeling towards the program. Mr. Oelanie indicated that he felt most of these agencies would even provide counsellors who would be able to attend meetings in order to deliver the information. Mr. Delanie was asked to review the mater"ial in the publicati n for accuracy, content and presentability to the anticipated audience. Mr. Delan1e indicated that he thought it was well done, easy to understand, graphic, not too shocking and appropriate for the kind of effort that was trying to be pro- duced. He indicated that he felt this type of information and the way it is to be presented would be the route he would persona1ly recommend. Proposal This proposal is to have the police department enter into a working relationship with H.O.P.E. Through Education. This is a California company associated with a national firm named H.E.L.P. (Help Educate Loyal Parents, Inc.). H.O.P.E. is a corporation which makes its profits through publishing. It receives ten percent of what it costs to publish information which is soley used by public entities for educating the population about drug and alcohol abuse. The company would provide to the police department the following items: 0 4,000 copies of 11 A Reason for Tears" 0 One board depicting the human brain and the effects of different substances upon it 0 100 flip fact booklets (to be utilized for personnel who would need instan- taneous identificatiQn of tertain substances) 0 Large and small drug wheel~ identifying the drugs and their effects 0 Wall charts for visual presentations 0 A slike presentation to be used for public meetings 0 A cassette tape program and learning book for assistance with training officers to handle the presentations personally. 0 Marijuana essence tablets for demonstration purposes to allow parents to smell the aroma of bu~ning marijuana. Dru and Alcohol Abuse Information Delivery Pro-ia~ Recommendation Page Four The company would provide these materials by selling advertisements to businesses within the community to cover the cost of the publication. The company itself would collect ten percent of the actual cost of publication as its share in order to continue its operation and pay for its overhead. This proposal would allow the program to be produced with no additional cost to the City and allow the com- munity to finance it. The actual cost to the City would require only the crime pre- vention and juvenile officers I time which are now being used to carry on the Cr-ime Prevention and Neighborhood Watch Programs. Cost Breakdown Alternative One -Community sharing cost through advertisement. Four thousand booklets@ $3.35 each, W)ll cost $13,400 (due to additional pages necessary, plus overhead). AlternativP. Two -Police department paying cost for printing of the material; 4,000 booklets@ $2.25 each, will cost $9,000. Alternative Three-Reduce number of booklets to 2,000@ $2.25 with police depart- ment paying for cost of printing will cost $4. ,500. Note: Local printers cannot print material cheaper. H.O.P.E. prints large quantities, therefore, cost are lower per unit. Attachments VDJ/dib July 9, 1981 Chief Vincent Jinmo 1200 Elm Avenue Carlsbad, Ca. 92008 Dear chief Jirano, H.O.PME ■ THROUGH EDUCATION 13400 MAXELLA AVE., #200 VENICE, CA. 90291 (213) 306-3550 H.E.LP. REGIONAL OFFICES FORT LEE, N.J. PHILADELPHIA, PA. CHIC'.~GO. IL. DALLAS, TX. JUL l 3199 1 Thank you for the interest in our program for you community. We feel with proper application it will result in positive reactions. Below is a lising of the materials that we will be providing for your department; l. 4000 copies of a Reason For Tea~** 2. one drug display kit 3. one brain board display 4. 100 flip facts 5. large and small drug wheels 6. wall charts 7. slide presentation, cassette tape and learning book 8. marijuana essence tablets **per advertising monies collected With these materials in hand, your community should have a much better understanding of the problems that face their children • • Goode Public relations I