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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR Vigil

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

02/07/07

HB 562

SHORT TITLE Youth Substance Abuse & Suicide Prevention

SB

ANALYST Weber

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY07

FY08

$100.0

Recurring

General Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Human Services Department (HSD)

Department of Health (DOH)

Public Education Department (PED)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 562 appropriates $100 thousand from the general fund to the Human Services

Department to contract with a youth commission based in Las Vegas for program focused on

substance abuse and suicide prevention that involve training youth in government so they can

train peers in other communities.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $100 thousand contained in this bill is a recurring expense to the general

fund. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FY08 shall revert to

the general fund.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

The Human Services Department and the Department of Health collaborated on the following

information.

House Bill 562 – Page

2

New Mexico has the highest rate of drug related deaths in the nation. In 2005, 42.3% of youth

(9

th

-12

th

grade) had a drink within the past 30 days and 28.6% reported binge drinking. Youth

who start drinking before age 15 are five times more likely to develop alcohol dependency or

abuse later in life (New Mexico Youth Risk & Resiliency Survey, 2005). Alcohol misuse is

associated with psychiatric problems such as depression, anxiety, and antisocial personality

disorder. New Mexico prevalence of attempted suicide was the third highest among the states

participating in the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) and was 1.5 times the

national rate of 8.3%. In New Mexico, 57.2% of high school students reported persistent

feelings of sadness and hopelessness (female 36.2%, male 21.0%) and 20.5% had made a suicide

plan (female 18.7%, male 12.8%.

In New Mexico, Native Americans have the highest rates of suicide among youth ages 15-24.

Hispanic youth have the second highest rates of suicide among youth ages 15-24. Native

Americans have the highest rates of alcoholic related deaths. (New Mexico Department of

Health, Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities Report Card, 2006;

www.health.state.nm.us

)

Youth leadership and development opportunities are an effective way to prevent negative health

and social outcomes among youth. Young people who take active roles in organizations and

communities have fewer problems, are better skilled, and tend to be lifelong citizens (Preventing

Problems, Promoting Development, Encouraging Engagement, The Forum for Youth

Investment, 2003)

MW/csd