Attorney General Ford Signs Bipartisan Letter in Support of Congressional Bill to Combat Youth Substance Abuse

Carson City, NV — Today, Nevada Attorney General Aaron D. Ford announced that he, along with 38 other attorneys general, has signed onto a letter to congressional leadership in support of the bipartisan Youth Substance Use Prevention and Awareness Act (YSUPA). This act, introduced by U.S. Senators Mark Kelly and Thom Tillis would amend the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 to authorize federal grant funding for the development, implementation and expansion of public service announcement campaigns specifically aimed at youth.

"Youth substance abuse is a devastating issue to Nevada families and extremely harmful to our state’s children,” said AG Ford. “Information is a vital tool in the fight against drug abuse, and by targeting our children with evidence-based messaging, we can help ensure they grow up happy, healthy and drug-free. Fighting back against the opioid crisis has been a core goal for me during my time as attorney general, and this legislation would be an extraordinarily useful tool to meet our children where they are and to arm them with the information they need to keep themselves safe and addiction-free.”

According to the United Health Foundation, in 2022, 9.1% of Nevada youth aged 12 to 17 reported using illicit drugs in the last month. Only nine states had a higher percentage of children reporting drug use. The coalition of attorneys general stressed that youth substance use remains a growing public health and public safety concern — especially in light of the rise in fentanyl-related overdoses and the increasing availability of synthetic drugs. Research consistently shows that individuals who begin using drugs at an early age are more likely to develop long-term substance use disorders, and the consequences can be devastating for families, schools, and communities.

The YSUPA would require requiring annual reports on the content, reach and outcomes of campaigns that made use of federal grant funding in order to ensure these programs had an impact on youth populations. The act’s reporting requirements would also give other jurisdictions information on which messaging strategies worked elsewhere so that these ideas could be replicated.

The YSUPA would fund a range of efforts to better reach youth with timely, credible, and accessible information, including:

• Culturally relevant PSAs tailored specifically to youth; 
• Youth-led PSA contests to drive peer-to-peer engagement and creativity; 
• Federal grants for outreach across TV, radio, social media, streaming platforms, and other media; and 
• Annual reporting requirements to measure reach and effectiveness, ensuring transparency and accountability

AG Ford has made seeking justice for Nevadans harmed by the ongoing opioid crisis a core goal during his time in office. Through legal settlements with those responsible for the opioid epidemic, the Office of the Attorney General has brought in more than $1.1 million for the mitigation of the opioid epidemic through AG Ford’s time in office. In addition, the Office of the Attorney General worked closely with each of the counties and litigating cities in the Nevada to create the One Nevada Agreement on Allocation of Opioid Recoveries, in which each signatory receives their own abatement money to tackle opioid mitigation needs in their communities.

In signing the letter, AG Ford joined the attorneys general of Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Utah, Vermont, U.S. Virgin Islands, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming.

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