Obama budget lacks drug program grants

WASHINGTON, June 18 (UPI) -- U.S. President Barack Obama's administration says in its first budget that state grants for school drug programs were omitted due to design flaws.

USA Today said Thursday the budget also cites a RAND Drug Policy Research Center study conducted in 2001 that found the Safe and Drug-Free Schools and Communities program had profound flaws.

William Modzeleski, head of the Education Department's Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools, said the state grants involved in the program were too small.

"The inherent flaw in these state grants is it tries to do too much with too little," Modzeleski said of the education effort. "It's not that we don't need to spend some money on creating safe schools for kids. That's paramount. That's critical. But we have to do it in an effective manner."

White House spokesman Tommy Vietor agreed, saying the funding for the program had become too widespread during recent years.

USA Today said the U.S. Congress tabbed $472 million for the grants in 2003, but that number decreased in 2006 and 2007 to $346.5 million. In 2008, amid a $100 million grant request from then-U.S. President George W. Bush, Congress allotted $295 million.