$9 MILLION PROGRAM COVERS 29 COUNTIES

FRANKFORT - Street-level traffickers in prescription pills,
methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana will be the prime target of a
new $9 million program aimed at combating drug abuse in Eastern and
southern Kentucky.

The three-year project called UNITE is built around a federal grant
announced early this year by U.S. Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Somerset, in
response to Eastern Kentucky's prescription drug abuse crisis.

Karen Engle, the project's executive director, released new details
about the effort yesterday during a meeting of a state legislative
task force.

UNITE will devote more than half its money -- about $5 million -- to
identifying, arresting and prosecuting grassroots dealers rather than
searching for higher-level organizers, Engle told the panel.

Another $1.8 million will help finance drug courts in the 29 counties
covered, and about $200,000 will be earmarked for community
drug-fighting coalitions, Engle told the task force, which is looking
for ways to counter prescription drug abuse.

Drug courts allow abusers to choose strictly supervised rehabilitation
over conventional sentencing. The community coalitions will conduct
educational programs, set up hotlines for families with a drug crisis
and will also monitor drug trials and hearings "as the eyes, ears and
voices of the citizens," Engle said.

29 agents to be hired

But the bulk of the group's budget will go to hire and train 29
narcotics agents who would work for three new drug enforcement teams
to be established in the Cumberland Valley, Big Sandy and Kentucky
River regions.

About $1.1 million more would be used to finance undercover drug buys,
she said. The program plans to spend an additional $160,000 to help
compensate Kentucky State Police crime labs for the extra work the
anticipated arrests would create.

The new regional drug task forces will be coordinated by the Kentucky
State Police, and will cooperate with local, state and federal law
officers. UNITE, which stands for Unlawful Narcotics Investigation
Treatment and Education, will hire three managers and will reimburse
local police agencies for officers who work on the forces, Engle said.

UNITE's budget comes mostly from an $8 million Department of Justice
grant authorized in February. The state's Center for Rural Development
in Somerset will provide $1 million and Eastern Kentucky University,
$605,000.

More prosecutors on way

Engle noted that Greg Van Tatenhove, U.S. attorney for the Eastern
District of Kentucky, has separately promised to establish a roving
team of six special prosecutors to help local commonwealth's attorneys
handle drug cases in the regions involved. She said the first two of
those prosecutors could be hired in October.

Engle said that final federal approval of the money is expected next
month. Field representatives will then be hired to recruit local
citizens' groups. An agreement is expected next month as well with the
Administrative Office of the Courts to supervise drug courts.

Engle assured the legislative task force that the drug courts were
intended to help addicts and not to let dealers escape punishment.

"Some people need to go to jail," she assured those at the
meeting.

Hiring of task force managers and drug court staffs is due to begin in
October, followed by hiring of new narcotics agents in November. Engle
said investigations could start by the end of December or early January.

The legislative task force was created by the 2003 General Assembly.
House Majority Leader Greg Stumbo, D-Prestonsburg, is co-chairman with
Senate President Pro Tem Dick Roeding, R-Lakeside Park.

The group is required to make recommendations by Oct. 1 for possible
legislation to help fight Kentucky's prescription drug problem.