CRUSADE AGAINST CRACK GEARING UP

GREENSBORO -- Mayor Keith Holliday has the champion he wants to lead
the community in a crusade against crack cocaine, and its first step
will take the form of a town meeting Wednesday.

It's the Guilford County Substance Abuse Coalition, a collection of 43
organizations and agencies representing a public and private
cross-section of the county. Coalition leaders have called the meeting
in response to the News & Record's recent series on crack. The series
documented the economic and human costs to the entire Guilford County
community caused by a crack epidemic that shows no sign of abating
after almost 20 years.

George Coates, who was recently hired as the coalition's first
full-time director, said Friday that he had mailed about 1,200
invitations to people throughout the county to attend the meeting,
which will be at the Jamestown campus of GTCC.

Coates emphasized, however, that the meeting is open to the
public.

"We want all segments of the community represented -- elected
officials, law enforcement, religious leaders, community leaders,
residents, all segments. This issue impacts everyone in the community,
and it will take the entire community to deal with it."

Coates said the meeting will include a panel discussion of crack in
Guilford County, along with other substances that are abused. He had
not selected all the panelists Friday, although he said they would
include caregivers, treatment experts and perhaps representatives from
law enforcement. He also said he wants former and/or current addicts
to participate.

"We want to be the mayor's champion," Coates said.

Shortly after the News & Record series in November, Holliday called
for a countywide task force to come up with ideas to eradicate crack
in the community. "We need a champion who will step up and take this
ball and run with it," Holliday said then.

Coates and Bob Newton, president of the Moses Cone Community Health
Foundation, one of the founders of the coalition, then contacted
Holliday and Guilford County Commissioner Skip Alston. Alston had said
after the series was published that the county should find money for a
new long-term treatment center for crack addicts.

Alston said in an interview last week that expanded long-term
treatment for crack cocaine addicts in the county would be one of his
"No. 1 priorities" when the commissioners go on their working retreat
in January. He said he'll ask the county staff to determine what such
a center would cost the county and how it might be paid for, including
the possibility of a bond referendum.

In an e-mail memo to Holliday and Alston, Newton said the champion
Holliday envisioned "already exists... . Moreover, it has the capacity
within its membership to take positive and decisive action, perhaps
along lines suggested by Mr. Alston. ..."

Holliday said Friday that he decided immediately after talking with
Coates and Newton that the coalition "should be the champion. Most of
the players are already in place."

The coalition includes representatives from drug treatment centers
connected with county government, such as Alcohol and Drug Services of
Guilford and Caring Services of High Point, and from private,
nonprofit treatment centers, including Malachi House and Mary's House.
The courts, law enforcement and schools also are represented, along
with religious groups and public housing communities.