DRUG CZAR VISIT FOLLOWS CITY HALL BUST

Official Reviews Area's Approach to Fighting Drugs

Drug abuse was being fought two ways at St. Louis City Hall on Thursday. In
Mayor Francis Slay's office, President George W. Bush's drug czar reviewed
a federal plan to reduce drug use by 25 percent. St. Louis is the 14th of
25 stops by John Walters, director of the National Drug Control Policy
office. The city has seen large jumps in cocaine, marijuana and narcotics
cases in the last few years.

Across the hall, City Treasurer Larry Williams announced a new drug-testing
policy for his office after one of his employees was charged this week with
selling crack cocaine from a City Hall parking lot booth. "Employees who
refuse to be tested when asked will be discharged," Williams said in a
memorandum to employees. His department oversees the city's parking division.

Williams said that he had asked the office's attorney to draft a new
anti-drug policy. It would allow for mandatory drug testing if an employee
is involved in a work-related accident, returns from an absence exceeding
30 days or "when there is a reasonable suspicion or belief that the
employee is or has been using illegal drugs or alcohol."

The new policy would more clearly outline that employees cannot use or be
in possession of drugs while at work.

Part-time employee Dion Stovall, 28, of the 1400 block of Peabody Court,
was charged with cocaine possession. Police say he had two grams of crack
and $1,595 in cash when they arrested him Tuesday.

Williams said Stovall had been placed on indefinite unpaid suspension.

"I should note that I have no evidence that the accused employee was a drug
user," Williams said.

Back in Slay's office, Walters said the problem was not the lack of
resources to fight drug use. Rather, "There is not one agency where this
can be managed," he said.

St. Louis has gotten the attention of Walters' office because of the
increase in drug-related incidents. For example, marijuana-related visits
to the emergency room here increased 232 percent from 1995 to 2002. Only
Philadelphia and Detroit had higher rates.

Walters' trip across the country is designed to review efforts being made
by metropolitan areas to wipe out drug use. The idea is to have the federal
government help coordinate local efforts beyond funding, Walters said. In
the city, at least $7 million in federal, state and local funds is used to
combat drug use.

His visit comes three weeks after more than 80 agencies that work with St.
Louis and St. Louis County on drug prevention met at Harris-Stowe State
College to determine the best way to make a serious dent in the region's
drug problem.

"We took a look at what already is being employed in the city and county
and see what we want to address over the next 18 months," said Michael
Couty, director of the state Department of Mental Health's Division of
Alcohol and Drug Abuse. Those from social service and law enforcement
agencies and nonprofit groups are sitting down with educators, politicians
and health care providers to figure out the best way to pool their resources.

Slay and St. Louis County Executive Charlie Dooley will chair the
coalition, which will meet monthly.

It's the second time this week that Slay and Dooley formally announced a
partnership. On Wednesday, the two men said they were leading efforts to
end chronic homelessness in the area within 10 years. Slay and Dooley see
the efforts overlapping because many of the 3,000 labeled as chronically
homeless became that way in part because of a drug or alcohol addiction.