In 1974 the General Assembly
passed Act 1068 which formed the South Carolina Commission on Alcohol
and Drug Abuse (SCCADA).
Although specialized alcohol
and other drug abuse activities began developing at the community level
during the 1950's and 1960's, the initiative of a coordinated statewide
planning and programming effort got a major boost from the passage of Act
301 of 1973.
Act 301 required each county
to designate a single county authority on alcohol and other durg abuse to
act as the sole agency for alcohol and drug abuse planning.
The groundwork was thus set on
the state level for the subsequent establishment locally of the Dorchester
County Alcohol and Drug Commission, in April, 1974. By law, the
Commission is considered to be the Dorchester County authority on alcohol
and other drug issues, planning, and services.
From the mid-1970's to the
present, DADC has had to fill the gaps left by other service providers
who, in focusing primarily on the metro Charleston area, left Dorchester
County under-served or neglected in the area of mental health treatment,
and for those residents whose problems may not be related directly to the
use of alcohol and other drugs-- but who are in need of counseling
services nonetheless. DADC continues to provide a wide variety of
prevention, intervention, and treatment services to the community,
enjoying a long-standing and fruitful relationship with a diverse range of
public and private referral sources.
After almost two decades of
service, the strengths of the state's alcohol and other drug abuse system
were recognized when the General Assembly undertook a massive
restructuring of state government. In accordance with the passage of
Act 265 of 1993, the South Carolina Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse
was re-designated as the South Carolina Department of Alcohol and Other
Drug Abuse Services (DAODAS), a cabinet-level department housed within
the executive branch of state government. This new organizational
structure has allowed South Carolina to remain in the forefront of the
battle against alcohol and other drug abuse by forging a closer working
relationship with the executive branch of government and by increasing the
visibility of these issues throughout the state.