Release #145-98

Contact: Colleen Roche (212) 788-2958 or Sandra Mullin, Department of Mental Health (212) 788-5290

MAYOR GIULIANI PROCLAIMS TAKE A STEP DAY IN NEW YORK CITY

Joins National Outreach Campaign To Raise Awareness About Drug Addiction and Substance Abuse

Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani proclaimed today April 1, 1998 Take a Step Day in New York City to mark a national effort organized by Channel 13/WNET which highlights the problem of substance abuse and challenges communities to take steps to address the problem. Joining the Mayor were Dr. Rosa Gil, the Mayor's Special Advisor on Health Policy; Dr. Neal L. Cohen, Commissioner of the Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Alcoholism Services and the Department of Health; and Paula Kerger, Senior Vice President of Channel Thirteen/WNET.

"There's no greater threat to our communities and children than substance abuse," Mayor Giuliani said. "Government officials, private citizens, civic and business leaders, members of the clergy, and service providers each have an important role to play in preventing addiction and taking positive steps to reduce it.

"The City's drug problem did not arise overnight and will not be solved overnight. However, this is a problem we are aggressively addressing, and New York City has become a model for a nation seeking to eliminate drugs," the Mayor concluded.

New York City Health and Mental Health Commissioner Neal L. Cohen, M.D. said, "Substance abuse is one of the greatest public health problems we face today. Alcohol and drug abuse are contributing factors to illness, crime, violence, child abuse, and soaring health care costs."

The nationwide TAKE A STEP campaign, coordinated in New York City by Thirteen/WNET and sponsored by the New York City Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Alcoholism Services' Bureau of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services, is designed to raise awareness about addiction and recovery as part of a national outreach campaign prompted by Bill Moyers' five-part PBS series Moyers on Addiction: Close to Home which aired on March 29-31. The series, which will be broadcast again on April 4, 1998, takes an unprecedented look at the treatment, prevention, politics and personal experience of addiction and recovery in America.

In New York City:

• Drugs cost the public and private sectors more than $20 billion each year.
• Seventy-one percent of children in foster care have at least one parent who was a substance abuser.
• Each year, 70 to 80 percent of those arrested test positive for drug use.
• Sixty to 70 percent of substance abusing parolees, who do not receive treatment while on parole, return to drugs and criminal conduct within three months of their release.

The Federal Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration notes:

• Nationally, alcohol and other drug-related crimes cost society $57.3 billion in 1990.
• Annually, about 520,000 deaths are due to illicit drug use, alcohol and tobacco.
• Drugs and alcohol are contributing factors to domestic abuse and sexual assaults.
• Twenty-five to 40 people out of every 100 in general hospital beds are being treated for complications of alcoholism.
• The overall 1993 cost to society of illicit drug use, alcoholism and tobacco-related problems was nearly $400 billion.

Dr. Gil said, "I think the efforts of Channel 13/WNET, in combination with the City's initiative, are important steps toward helping people to seek the treatment they need for a disease that can be overcome."

On October 1, 1997, Mayor Giuliani released a comprehensive plan to address New York City's drug problem with a three-pronged strategy that encompasses education and prevention, treatment and law enforcement. Since this announcement the City has:

• Expanded NYPD's drug initiatives to include every borough;
• Expanded the "Drug-Free Park" program to include parks in every borough;
• Increased the residential treatment slots in the Department of Correction from 180 to 360;
• Expanded the DARE program so that 4,000 children in housing development community centers will receive anti-drug and anti-gang education;
• Increased the number of Drug Free School Zones from 40 to 100 schools;
• Created a special Hotline (1-888-374-DRUG) for citizens to report drug activity in their neighborhoods.

The Mayor's anti-drug plan is currently in the process of creating five new drug initiatives in addition to the four presently operating, increasing the number of BEACON schools from 41 to 69, and establishing a Manhattan Drug Court for drug-abusing defendants.

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