lassroom with teachers, who are trained in some form of social work, that worked directly with campus groups, community programs, and legislators, we could directly control the cost of such a program. Where would the money come from? The beauty is it’s already available, we just need some minor legislative changes to receive it. After lobbying battles between such groups as Mother Against Drunk Drivers and the National Restaurant Association, a compromise in the federal highway reauthorization bill set up a new twenty billion dollar grant program that rewards states that adopt alcohol and drug-impaired driving enforcement programs (Clark 229). To receive these federal funds, states must meet four out of five of the following requirements: Revoke drunken drivers’ licenses; set up sobriety checkpoints; set a 0.10 blood-alcohol content standard for drunken driving (reduced to 0.08 after three years); step up enforcement of the legal drinking age; and establish laws preventing drunken driving (Clark 229). Ultimately, the money is there for the taking and all we need to do is reform the laws we already have in existence. With this federal contribution, we will have more than enough money to implement a multi-level, multi-facetted program. Now that we can efficiently fund such a program, what curriculum should the program encompass?Former US Surgeon General Antonia C. Novello feels that “clearly, something must be done about this problem” and she states “two things are clear: first, we all have a role to play in solving this problem, second, by working together we all can solve it [teen drinking]” (Novello 21). The point is that we all need to work together. One-sided school-based programs like D.A.R.E. are not the answer. We need to institute programs that have a firm foundation in communal, scholastic, parental, and legislative hands. Unless all four of these branches work together toward one ...
