OLDHAM COUNTY DRUG TASK FORCE TO TACKLE GROWING PROBLEM

A drug task force is beginning to take shape in Oldham County to combat
what its organizers say is a bigger substance-abuse problem than many
people realize.

County school Superintendent Blake Haselton prompted the task force after
three years of disappointing results in student surveys conducted by
Challengers, the county's antidrug-and-alcohol group.

The task force will include representatives of Challengers, the court
system, businesses, churches, schools and police agencies.

It will "educate the community of the serious nature of what's going on,"
said Michael Williams, a student-service specialist for the school system,
who will be its liaison to the task force.

Although Williams said the main goal is to reduce the use of drugs and
alcohol and to prevent future use, the group is still planning its strategy.

When the task force met for the first time, on Jan. 31, its members
discussed goals and obstacles.

The first step was to examine the extent of the problem. For example,
student-survey results released in December reported an increase in the use
of cocaine, including crack, among high school seniors and the first
appearance of use of these drugs by middle school students.

Education is the key to curbing the problem, Williams said.

That's Challengers' focus. The group presents programs in Oldham schools;
it has formed parent focus groups and a youth advisory board; and it is
training police and emergency workers to recognize the signs of substance
abuse.

Although the task force will be under Challengers' umbrella of services,
project coordinator Liz Burrows said she is hopeful that having members
from various segments of the community will help generate new ideas on
prevention.

La Grange police Chief Tom Murphy said he will participate on the task
force, but he also said he hopes to launch another one to focus on stopping
current drug activity.

Murphy, who has expressed concern to the City Council for several months
about drug traffic in the county, has contacted law-enforcement agencies in
Shelby, Henry, Trimble and Carroll counties to help start a task force of
their own.

"Drug investigation is timeconsuming," he said, adding that with only a
dozen officers, La Grange police can't spend the required surveillance time.

"We're barely covering the streets. . . . And only doing it in La Grange is
like the Dutch boy with his finger in the dike," he said. "It's best done
on a regional basis."

That strategy has been working for Bullitt County's fledgling task force.
Composed of officers from the sheriff's department, Hillview police and the
Kentucky State Police, the Bullitt group investigates leads on drug sales,
works with other task forces in the region to monitor trafficking along
Interstate 65, identifies major drug dealers in the county and raises
awareness of the problem.

Since it was formed in October, agencies on the task force have arrested 56
people.

Williams, who also is the Challengers chairman, said Oldham County's new
task force hopes to use future Challengers surveys to gauge how the task
force is working.