LEADERS TO TALK ABOUT SUBSTANCE ABUSE

Local leaders have planned a forum addressing substance abuse Saturday.

Their mission is ambitious. They hope to create a drug-free community,
using families, schools, churches and advocates working together.

"It's going to take a long time to make a change, but we can start," said
Dr. David Ames, president of the Eastern North Carolina Council on
Substance Abuse.

The conference is scheduled from 8:30 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. at the Greenville
Hilton, and the public is invited. Ames hopes the discussion will
facilitate a long-range plan of action for coping with substance abuse. He
projects 150 attendees.

A dinner also will be held Friday night at the Hilton, hosted by East
Carolina University Chancellor William Muse, Greenville Mayor Don Parrott,
Pitt County Board of Commissioners chairwoman Beth Ward and Pitt County
Board of Education chairwoman Jill Camnitz.

Dr. David Choate, director of the United Way of Broward County Commission
on Substance Abuse, will speak during the dinner. Ames said Choate will
address how communities can discuss substance abuse, building coalitions to
bring together leadership groups to face the problem. Choate's work in
Florida earned "an Outstanding Coalition of the Year" award in 1996.

Choate also will talk during the forum. Dr. LeRoy Walker opens the
conference, speaking on teamwork. Walker is a former president of the U.S.
Olympic Committee, and he coached the U.S. Olympic team in 1976.

A few video presentations will be shown with information gathered from a
dozen focus groups in the county. Organizers will then ask the audience to
break into small groups, discussing actions for different issues relating
to substance abuse. The Rev. Sidney Locks from Cornerstone Baptist Church
ends the day's forum.{M6

"He'll try to pull it all together and paint a vision of what a world
without addiction would look like," Ames said.

A steering committee, composed of 26 community leaders, envisioned the
conference in meetings during the past year. They identified the forum's
focus as "demand reduction" with an emphasis on prevention, Ames said.

"My hope is that they will continue working as a coalition," Ames said.

The conference's goals are two-fold. The leadership needs to develop a plan
or agenda, then implement actions.

"That's what we're looking for in a community coalition," Ames said.