'FACE IT RICHMOND' KICKS OFF

Rise In Drug Use Target Of Campaign

The Richmond area doesn't realize the severity of its illegal drug problem,
and citizens and the government must work together to increase prevention
and treatment, an anti-drug group said yesterday.

The Regional Drug-Free Alliance, a confederation of 40 local social service
groups, police agencies, businesses and individuals, yesterday held a news
conference at the state Capitol to announce "Face It Richmond," a campaign
aimed at raising awareness of what members say has been a rise in area drug
use.

Although "Just Say No" has become a fixture in schools, businesses and many
homes, too many people don't take the message seriously because they don't
understand how horribly drugs can ruin lives.

Heroin use is on the rise, police and doctors said. Many people also
mistakenly believe that drug use is mainly a problem among residents of
poor, inner-city neighborhoods.

And while much of the government's focus has been on police interdiction,
not enough has been done to reduce demand and treat those who already are
addicted, some members said yesterday.

"We've been looking at it not as a public health problem, but as a criminal
justice problem," said Dr. Sidney H. Schnoll, chairman of the Division of
Addiction Medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University's Medical College of
Virginia.

"We've been wasting a lot of money doing it that way . . . We don't have to
spend more money, we just need to spend the money better."

Chesterfield businessman Fred Carreras founded the alliance two years ago
so social service agencies, doctors and others who regularly deal with
drugs and drug users would have a regional venue for sharing ideas and
data. It meets monthly at Chippenham Medical Center.

The group began crafting its publicity campaign last spring.

Schnoll and alliance member Dr. Robin Foster, director of pediatric
emergency services at MCV, said drugs or alcohol are at the root of
problems for many adults and children admitted to local hospitals, from
infants born addicted to cocaine or heroin to child abuse to car accidents.

On Friday and Saturday nights, it's not unusual for the emergency room to
treat teen-agers from affluent suburbs who have overdosed on drugs, she
said. In July alone, the alliance said, 114 people were treated at MCV's
emergency room for drug overdoses.

And while the alliance said statistics relating to regional drug use are
often incomplete, it did offer some data: According to police, arrests for
drug possession in Richmond, Henrico, Chesterfield and Hanover increased by
about a third from 1994 to 1998, from 3,175 to 4,410.

A 1997 MCV/VCU survey of 1,000 students, meanwhile, indicated that 51
percent had tried marijuana, and 12 percent had used pot in the last 30
days. Sixteen percent also reported they had used cocaine.

This is the second regional anti-drug effort announced in recent weeks.
Gov. Jim Gilmore announced a new drug-fighting proposal, called SABER,
aimed at providing more police, courts and money for the effort.