A new state audit shows more than $10 million a year intended for drug and alcohol prevention and education programs instead funded petting zoos, community fairs and one agency's rent.
New Jersey Comptroller Matthew Boxer found the Governor's Council on Alcoholism and Drug Abuse hands out grants with little oversight.
The audit released Thursday also found the agency is overstaffed and fails to meet basic responsibilities, such as following up on how money it distributes to the state's 21 counties is spent.
Boxer said the agency frequently didn't question why grant money was requested or whether funds, once awarded, produced positive results.
The audit is the first for the agency since it was created in 1989.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
