Grassley said the key to solving the drug problem is communities acting together, and he encouraged parents, students, teachers, youth leaders, law enforcement officials, clergy, workers, business professionals, medical experts, local government officials, concerned citizens, and the media to attend these meetings. "Facing it together is the only way we can make our families, neighborhoods, schools, and places of work drug-free," Grassley said.
Grassley's meetings are open to the public. They will begin on Monday, April 13, and continue through Friday, April 17. He will meet with Iowans in Mason City, Waterloo, Marshalltown, Fort Dodge, Spencer, Cherokee, Sioux City, Council Bluffs, Atlantic, Creston, Des Moines, Newton, Ottumwa, Burlington, and Muscatine. Grassley also will host a meeting in Johnston that will be available via fiberoptic network to Iowans in Algona, Carroll, Chariton, Shenandoah, Dubuque, and Rock Valley.
In addition, Grassley will convene a congressional field hearing on Tuesday, April 14, in Marion. The hearing ? "Drug Trafficking: Following Meth from Mexico to the Midwest" ? will begin at 9:00 a.m., in the small gymnasium at Linn-Mar Jr. High School. This hearing also will be open to the public. He will conduct the hearing as chairman of the U.S. Senate Caucus on International Narcotics Control.
Grassley said he has organized all of these events to help bring together members of the communities to talk about the increasing problem of drug use, especially by teenagers. In addition, he said the effort is intended to take aim at the expanding and destructive presence of methamphetamine in Iowa.
The 16 town meetings also are part of an effort Grassley began last spring to develop the first-of-its-kind statewide anti-drug coalition. The goal of the coalition is to assist individual communities in Iowa in the fight against drugs. To date, six individual task forces organized by Grassley have met and developed ideas to help local communities craft targeted strategies to fight drugs. Information gathered from the upcoming meetings will be used to fine-tune these initial concepts. The community coalition plan then will be released to the public.
Last year, Grassley received top honors from the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) for securing passage of the Drug Free Communities Act of 1997. This Grassley- sponsored law provides for $10 million for fiscal 1998, and requests $20 million for fiscal 1999. These funds will be awarded as federal matching grants to community-based groups with a proven record of fighting drug use. Grassley said the initiative moves federal dollars already being spent for anti-drug programs in Washington, D.C., to the grassroots.
Nationwide, the percentage of high school seniors admitting use of an illicit drug rose by more than half during the last six years. During the same time period, drug use among 10th graders doubled, and nearly 20 percent of 8th grade students admitted to using illegal drugs.
Grassley's anti-drug meetings in Iowa are scheduled as follows.
This interactive meeting also will be available from 5:30-6:30 p.m., for citizens in:
On Thursday, April 16, Grassley's monthly cable television program, "Ask Your Senator: A Live Town Meeting," will be broadcast to the Des Moines TCI Network, which includes subscribers in the metro area and west as far as Glenwood. The live program is designed for Iowa viewers to call in with questions and comments on any subject. Grassley invited callers in April to ask him questions about efforts to fight illegal drugs.
