PRISONERS PUSH THE STRAIGHT DOPE

Inmates Spread Anti-Drug Gospel

LYNDHURST - A group of "straight talking" convicts will spill from the
prison gates of the Grafton Correctional Minimum Security Camp this morning
to help spread their anti-drug and alcohol gospel on school campuses and in
courtrooms across Ohio.

The decade-old program - Dope is for Dopes - brings prisoners face-to-face
with students and delinquents in hopes that testimonials by criminals who
have destroyed their own lives will discourage young people from doing the
same.

Law enforcement authorities say the effectiveness of such programs is
difficult to measure, in part because of a lack of statistics. But police
chiefs like Martin Lentz of Cleveland Heights say such approaches certainly
cannot hurt.

Lyndhurst Municipal Judge Mary Kaye Bozza, who invited four Grafton
prisoners to her courtroom today, agrees. Several delinquents sentenced by
Bozza have been ordered to listen to the inmates as part of their punishment.

Bozza plans to bring in the inmates several times this year for preventive
and punitive measures for delinquents.

Joe Harris, a program coordinator for Dope is for Dopes, said the inmates'
approach will be straightforward, unlike similar programs in the past in
which hardened inmates with scars and bad teeth snarled in the faces of
frightened would-be delinquents in an attempt to scare them straight and
steer them clear of crime and drugs.

"Ours is not the type of program where you jump in someone's face and
yell," Harris said. "Our whole thing is to try to get people to learn. We
are not out to scare anyone. We want to be real, tell you how it is ...
reach the kids' minds."

The intent of the program is to show kids "what effect drugs and alcohol
can have on your life in a matter of seconds," he said.

The four inmates speaking today have been convicted of drug-related
charges. "Some of these guys have been in prison seven or eight years,"
Harris said. "But they have changed their outlook. They want to return to
society some of the things they have taken from society."

The outreach program originated from a play and television movie that
warned young people against drug use and other crime. Following the
footsteps of "the dopeman" became a way of life for a number of inmates now
in Grafton, Harris said.

Any time he gets a call from a school, a judge or another interested party
group, he rounds up a handful of inmates and takes to the road.

"These guys are not proud of the crimes they have committed, and they have
remorse," Harris said. "All prisoners are not like that. But these guys
really want to help kids, and some of them have kids of their own."