300 LOCAL CITIZENS TURN OUT TO PRAY FOR HELP IN DRUG WAR

ASHEBORO - A murmur filled the large dining hall Monday night as people at
each of the tables fervently prayed together for God's help in fighting
Asheboro's growing drug problem.

Given a list of 10 prayer requests from Asheboro Police Chief Gary Mason,
diners were asked to pray with one another for 10 minutes.

Some swayed, some cried and some chanted as they sat around their tables
after viewing a video about drugs throughout Asheboro entitled, "The Battle
In Our Backyard."

"It's no longer on the street corner. It's no longer on the other side of
town. It's now in our backyard," said the Rev. John Butler, the chairman of
the Asheboro Drug Task Force, which hosted Monday's meeting at AVS Banquet
Centre.

A crowd of 300 whites, blacks and Latinos attended the banquet, which was
the latest effort by the task force to spiritualize the war against drugs
and encourage churches to get involved in the fight.

Mason compared the guests to the 300 who followed Gideon to rout thousands
of Midianite enemies of Israel in the Old Testament book of Judges.

"Tonight, I'm excited because as I look across this room, I see white, I
see black and I see Hispanic, and I'm excited because it's the beginning of
something wonderful in our community as we come together," Mason said.

Invitations for the event were sent to the pastors of about 40 churches,
inviting them to the banquet with some of their "prayer warriors."

"There's ... been a major escalation of drug activity and evil in our
community, and so we said, 'Let us come together. Let us do something. Let
us call on the Lord and let Him show us the way,' " Butler said. "So much
work has been put into this by so many, but this effort will not work
without you. We need everybody."

Before the meeting, guests were given police department statistics showing
that the estimated street value of the drugs officers seized between 2000
and 2004 tripled, increasing from $1.01 million to $3.87 million. A
breakdown shows that the amount of cocaine seized increased from 3,965
grams to 18,429 grams during the same years.

In his remarks, Mason recalled his early years on the force when he and his
fellow officers heard rumblings about crack cocaine.

"I remember hearing the horror stories about what was coming," Mason said.
"I remember hearing that word called crack. Didn't know what it was. When I
started to work at the Asheboro Police Department in the late '70s, I never
had to deal with anything like."

These days, local law enforcement officials say federal authorities tell
them that Randolph and some surrounding counties have become a distribution
point on a busy drug trafficking pipeline.

"It's no big deal for anyone to find 10 pounds of marijuana," Mason said.
"It's no big deal anymore to find a kilo of cocaine."

The video shown at Monday's meeting described Asheboro's charms, but warned
that drugs and the lawlessness they encourage are a threat to the city's
way of life. That lawlessness includes theft, prostitution, violence and
gang activity, Mason said.

At the heart of the video is Mason driving around Asheboro and describing
drug areas throughout the city.

In east Asheboro, a city park across the street from a day-care has been
the scene of drug dealing and several murders. In downtown, a business was
busted several years ago for selling cocaine. At Asheboro High School,
resource officers are vigilant for marijuana and gang fights. In Dixieland
Acres, a known drug dealer was shot to death at a party. On North
Fayetteville Street, an auto accessory store was the scene of Asheboro's
largest cocaine bust.

"Things are growing and things are changing at a rapid pace in our
community," Mason said. "The police do not have enough bullets, handcuffs,
guns and manpower to be able to actually deal with it. ... We can't do it
without you. We can't do it without the community partnering with us and
praying for us and getting behind us."

Mason continued, "We need to recognize tonight that the only hope we have
in being able to make a positive impact is we need to summon the help of
God almighty."