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

SPONSOR King

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

1/24/08

HB 277

SHORT TITLE Protect Children From Methamphetamine

SB

ANALYST Ortiz

APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)

Appropriation

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY08

FY09

$500.0

Recurring

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Attorney General’s Office (AGO)

Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC)

New Mexico Sentencing Commission (NMSC)

Public Defender Department (PDD)

Department of Health (DOH)

Administrative Office of the District Attorneys (AODA)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 277 appropriates $500 thousand from the GENERAL FUND to the Office of the

Attorney General for the purpose of a statewide project that protects children against

methamphetamine by raising awareness about the negative consequences and risks associated

with the use of methamphetamine.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The appropriation of $500 thousand contained in this bill is a RECURRING expense to the

GENERAL FUND. Any unexpended or unencumbered balance remaining at the end of FISCAL

YEAR 2009 shall revert to the GENERAL FUND.

The Attorney General’s Office provides the proposed budget to accomplish the goals of the

program.

House Bill 277 – Page

2

Media Campaign: $175,000 (Radio and Billboards)

Brochure Packet: $ 75,000 (Design and Production).

Travel and Training: $ 75,000 (Statewide in-person presentations)

Funding Requests: $175,000

(i.e. Boys and Girls Clubs of New Mexico)

Total: $500,000

The budget items are based on estimated costs and are subject to adjustment to ensure successful

efforts to reach communities in need, including Native American communities and areas hardest

hit by underage methamphetamine use.

The Department of Health’s FY08 operating budget includes $6,539.8 million in contractual

services for substance abuse prevention. Of this, $15 thousand is from state general funds for a

youth program in Las Vegas. The remainder is from federal funds is focused primarily on

tobacco and alcohol compliance and prevention issues.

Administrative Office of the District Attorneys suggests looking into coordinating with other

programs in existence such as MethWatch which is administered through the Department of

Public Safety.

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

The Attorney General’s Office presented information from the National Drug Intelligence Center

of the U. S. Department of Justice, which identified Methamphetamine as "the greatest drug

threat to the Southwest Region, accounting for 66 percent of the drug use in the southwest."

New Mexico is rated fifth among the Department of Justice’s High Intensity Drug Traffic Areas

(HIDTA) in the southwest. In our region, Amphetamine (including Methamphetamine)

treatment admissions have risen from 46,540 in 2001 to 82,319 in 2005 (DOJ's most recent

information). Other statistics from the Drug Enforcement Agency and the U.S. and New Mexico

Departments of Health and Human Services found that "The drug is used by all ages, races, and

genders, increasingly gaining popularity among New Mexico’s most vulnerable—teens and

young adults. In 2005, Meth use exceeded 10 percent among high school students in 33percent

of the counties across the state. In some counties teen use was as high as 15.7 percent. New

Mexico reported one of the highest percentage increases in Meth related arrests in the country,

with an increase of 100 percent between 2002 and 2005. In 2005, routine drug screens

completed at a county hospital emergency room showed that 25 percent of the patients tested

positive for Meth."

It also adds that similar educational programs have been instituted in other states, such as

Arizona, Idaho, Illinois, Hawaii, and Montana. A statewide survey of teens in Idaho revealed a

significant lack of understanding on the part of teenagers about the dangers associated with

methamphetamine. A pilot project in Montana designed to educate the public about the dangers

of methamphetamine showed a 45 percent decrease in teen use of methamphetamine and a 53

percent decrease in methamphetamine-related crime.

Department of Health offers a local perspective and adds that among high school aged children,

there is a higher prevalence of methamphetamine use in New Mexico than in the rest of the

country. In 2005, 6.2 percent of US high school students reported having used

methamphetamine, while 7.5 percent of NM high school students reported having used

methamphetamine within the previous 12 months. There was no statistically significant

House Bill 277 – Page

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difference in the prevalence of methamphetamine use among NM high school students by region

or by rural/urban residence (NM Youth Risk and Resiliency Survey (YRRS)).

PERFORMANCE IMPLICATIONS

There are over 68,000 middle school children and 95,000 high school students in New Mexico.

The bill targets these students in an effort to prevent and reduce methamphetamine use by minors

in New Mexico.

The outreach staff of the Office of the Attorney General will administer surveys to the

participants at the conclusion of each presentation. The data will be compiled, analyzed and

presented in report form to the legislature at Fiscal Year End 2009 to document the results of the

program.

The Department of Health suggests that the success of the program be measured using the Youth

Risk and Resiliency Survey (YRRS), which is already in place and measures the use of

methamphetamine by high school students. This effort could be expanded to include a larger

sample of New Mexico youth, with more participation from ethnic minorities and a wider age

group (middle school students). Data from a survey such as the YRRS will be vital to evaluating

the success of this project.

DOH adds that the funding in HB277 would help support the 2006 New Mexico Comprehensive

Strategic Health Plan

Chapter 7 Behavioral Health goals: GOAL 1: Improve access, quality, and

value of mental health and substance abuse services through an Interagency Collaborative

Model; GOAL 2: Improve Services to High-Risk and High-Need Individuals; and GOAL 3:

Increase rural, frontier, and border access to behavioral health services.

CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP

Relates to HB240, which would appropriate $150 thousand from the General Fund to the Local

Government Division of the Department of Finance and Administration for expenditure in FY09

for drug abuse education and prevention in Lea County.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

The Department of Health explains that Hispanics have the highest rates of drug related deaths in

New Mexico. (Racial and Ethnic Health Disparities Report Card, New Mexico Department of

Health, 2007). While the highest use of methamphetamine has been among white young adults,

New Mexico Hispanics are the largest minority group of users with amphetamines, heroin, and

cocaine as their drug of choice.

ALTERNATIVES

Department of Health suggests the following clarifications to HB277:

1.

Clarify the location of the proposed services and the strategies to be used to raise

awareness of the negative consequences and risks related to methamphetamine.

2.

Clarify who or what entity is to be involved in the prevention and education of the risks

of methamphetamine. The Office of Substance Abuse Prevention (OSAP) in the

Department of Health (DOH) oversees statewide drug abuse prevention services.

House Bill 277 – Page

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3.

Specify whether the targeted audience for the drug abuse education and prevention is

school based, incarcerated/adjudicated, or other youth groups.

POSSIBLE QUESTIONS

Describe the successes that similar education campaigns have had in decreasing drug use.

How will agencies with funds for similar purposes be coordinated with this effort by the AGO.

EO/mt