FEDERAL DRUG POLICY OFFICIAL TO ADDRESS ABUSE FORUM

TULSA -- Scott Burns, an official with the White House Office of National
Drug Control Policy, is a featured speaker at the 16th annual Substance
Abuse Conference Wednesday through Friday At a Wednesday luncheon, Burns
will address the importance of drug courts to the national drug control
strategy. Oklahoma is one of the nation's top states for using drug courts,
with 40 in use and 12 more planned.

Also at the luncheon, Lt. Gov. Mary Fallin will discuss the incarceration
of women in Oklahoma.

This year's conference theme is "Partners for Recovery and Prevention:
Creating Healthy Families and Communities." It will showcase America's
successful substance abuse treatment and prevention initiatives.

The event at the Southern Hills Marriott Hotel is sponsored by the Oklahoma
Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services.

The keynote address will be at 8:30 a.m. Thursday by Dr. H. Westley Clark,
director of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment at the U.S. Department
of Health and Human Services.

Also on Thursday, workshops will be offered on topics ranging from emerging
trends in prescription drug abuse to fetal alcohol syndrome. On Friday, a
featured speaker will be Jerry Moe, national director for children's
programs at the Betty Ford Center in California.