DUFFY URGES WIDER DRUG WAR

The Rochester area will see a decline in illegal drug use when all the
agencies with a stake in the issue join forces to combat the community's
most vexing problem, Rochester Police Chief Robert Duffy told a group of
substance-abuse service providers Friday.

"The drug problem is not going to be solved by arresting it away," he said.
"It requires all of us to come together and look at what we can do
collaboratively."

Duffy was the featured speaker at a breakfast meeting held by the
Consortium of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Services for the Finger Lakes
region. The group hosted state legislators or their representatives at the
Memorial Art Gallery to make a pitch for more state funding.

Duffy told the group that shrinking government budgets underscore the need
for a new approach to fighting the drug war.

That means each element of a four-pronged strategy for reducing drug abuse
- -- enforcement, education, treatment and prevention -- should work in
concert, Duffy said.

He suggested, for example, using money generated by the seized assets of
drug dealers -- typically the domain of police departments -- for treatment
and prevention.

And he said enforcement efforts could be improved if police officers spent
more time with treatment providers.

The region's struggling economy, marked by thousands of lost jobs, fuels
the need to solve the problem quickly, Duffy said, noting that local
illegal drug transactions total about $45 million to $60 million a year.

"People are out of work and they're going to get money somewhere," Duffy
said. "This industry is readily available."

Martin Teller, director of the Finger Lakes Addictions Counseling and
Referral Agency, agreed with Duffy's message.

"We recognize that we all have the same critical issues in front of us,"
Teller said.

"We can be most effective if we come at them together."