July 15, 1999 | Read Time: 1 minute
Promising Strategies: Results of the Fourth National Survey on Community Efforts to Reduce Substance Abuse and Gun Violence reports discrepancies between what leaders of community-based organizations think is necessary to stem drug and alcohol abuse and shootings, and federal-government policies currently in place. More than 1,600 coalitions that fight substance abuse and gun violence responded to a questionnaire mailed in early 1998 by Join Together, a group in Boston. Among the findings: that many groups call for a sharp increase in federal funds for treatment of substance abusers; that despite community-based groups’ success in improving their neighborhoods, the number of such groups appear to be on the wane; and that while many groups are split over tighter gun-control laws, high percentages of all respondents advocated measures such as mandatory safety training and increased taxes on guns. Publisher: Join Together, 441 Stuart Street, Seventh Floor, Boston 02116; (617) 437-1500; fax (617) 437-9394; info@jointogether.org; 40 pages; free. Copies of the report may be downloaded from the organization’s World-Wide Web site at http://www.jointogether.org.
