Letter: GOP Claims that Local Democrats Have Dropped the Ball on Youth Drug and Alcohol Use are False

To the editor:

Local Republicans have been claiming that the current Democrat-led Town Council and School Committee have not done enough to deal with drug and alcohol issues in Portsmouth schools. This is just not true.

If not for the current School Committee working with the Portsmouth Prevention Coalitions, no one would even know how bad the problem really is. They took the steps to support the Portsmouth Prevention Coalition in their two studies and their Federal Grant application. They set up a joint subcommittee for drug prevention. With the Town Council, they worked to increased funding and support to the Portsmouth Prevention Coalition as well as activities like Purple Week to raise awareness at the schools.

This Democrat-led School Committee also provided funding to update the health curriculum at the high school, which now spends a full 25% of the time on drug prevention. They funded sending PHS students and faculty to the Olympic training center at Lake Placid to learn about the effects of drugs on your body.

If I am not mistaken, the only Council member who voted against the increase in funding to the Portsmouth Prevention Coalition was Republican Liz Pedro. As I recall, Pedro also voted against the Town Council’s annual donation to the post Prom Party, an event that gives students a place to go after the prom with safe activities and keeps them away from drugs and alcohol.

So, who is actually doing something about the problem? The answer is clear -- the Democrats.

Respectfully,

Ryan T. Calcutt

Portsmouth