In a 2002-2003 study, it was estimated that the total number of illicit drug users in Tennessee was 321,000. This represents only a one month period!

• An estimated 44,000 of the illicit drug users in Tennessee were between the ages of 12-17 years old.
• An estimated 100,000 of the illicit drug users in Tennessee were between the ages of 18-25 years old.
• An estimated 177,000 of the illicit drug users in Tennessee were 26 or older.

As a Tennesseean and a Nashvillean, these are unacceptable statistics. They are certainly not acceptable numbers for me as the chairman of the Nashville Prevention Partnership Board. More important than the statistics, these numbers represent the faces of people we know personally - friends, acquaintances, family members. Our coalition is committed to bringing together community organizations and individuals to prevent substance abuse and violence in Nashville, and I am personally committed to doing everything in my power to make this partnership work. I want to eradicate the drug scourge that is destroying our families, draining our economy and shattering individual lives on its rampage through our communities.

Won’t you join NPP today? Tomorrow may be too late for someone you know - personally.