EARLEY PLAN WOULD SUBJECT DRUG PUSHERS TO LAWSUITS

RICHMOND -- Mark Earley outlined an anti-drug proposal Thursday that would
subject pushers to lawsuits from people harmed by their drugs and guarantee
one-year minimum jail terms for people caught selling drugs at schools.

The Republican gubernatorial candidate and former attorney general said the
program, Virginia Expel, would also add the synthetic hallucinogenic
stimulant Ecstacy and prescription narcotics to the list of drugs for which
dealers can be punished under a state law that targets drug kingpins.

Under current law, those who illegally sell prescription narcotics or
Ecstacy in large quantities aren't subject to the same harsh penalties as
people convicted as drug kingpins for selling comparable amounts of other
drugs such as cocaine or crack.

Earley's plan also includes a key plank of an education proposal he has
already made public -- the recruiting of 21,000 mentors to work with
children. He also advocates voluntary programs to teach parents the
importance of being home before and after school, at dinner and at bedtime
in protecting their children from cigarettes, alcohol and drugs. ``Families
that eat together, communicate well and pray together are the most likely
to have substance-free children,'' said Earley, who has six children and
rarely overnights away from home while campaigning. Earley's oldest child
just entered college, and his wife, Cynthia, stays home with the younger
children.

For households in which both parents work or have odd office hours, mentors
could help fill the gap, Earley said. The involvement of mentors reduces
the likelihood of drug use by 27 percent, he said.

``Whatever parents' work schedule is, there's always time for children,''
Earley said at a news conference outside Cafine's, a downtown Richmond
restaurant and night club that closed after state and local investigations
into alleged abuse of Ecstacy during rave nights at the club.

Earley said that the knowledge that not only jail but also a bankrupting
lawsuit could result from selling drugs to children could be a formidable
deterrent.

``Parents, children, spouses and others who've suffered harm from the
distribution and use of illegal drugs would then be able to file a civil
lawsuit against the dealer ... making the cost of dealing drugs
prohibitive,'' Earley said.

Earley's Democratic opponent, Mark Warner, will include school safety
initiatives in a public safety proposal he plans to announce within two
weeks, said Warner campaign spokesman Mo Elleithee.