85 ATTEND SECOND HEROIN MEETING

Session Held At Campbell High

Only a fraction of the 450 people who turned out for a communitywide
meeting Feb. 5 to confront teen heroin use in rural Campbell and Kenton
counties showed up for a second meeting Tuesday night to map out a plan to
combat the problem. And of those who did, fewer still signed up to
volunteer for further action. But those who did seemed intent on making a
difference.

Both meetings were in response to the heroin overdose deaths in recent
months of three young men from the two counties.

Chris Messmer, the father of one of those young men, 18-year-old Adam
Messmer, who died in January, said the modest response was a start to
addressing the problem.

"A few months ago, I never would have thought about coming to a meeting
like this," he said. "But then it hits home, and you change."

The count at last night's meeting at Campbell County High School was 85.
Pam Kinney of Alexandria, one of the meeting's organizers, asked for
volunteers to perform such tasks as contacting elected officials and
tracking down grants for drug prevention and treatment programs. At the end
of the meeting, she had about a dozen people willing to take a next step.

"I think most of those who came to the first meeting were there to
complain," she said. "But when it comes to doing actual work -- . "

No one at either meeting denied the problem exists. Charlotte Wethington of
Morning View, whose son, Casey, died of a heroin overdose in August,
brought a flyer that she'd picked up earlier in the day at Kenton
Elementary. Distributed by Kenton County school officials to teachers and
others, it carried this warning: "Please be advised heroin is becoming a
drug of choice among teen-agers and young adults in our community."

Wethington and her husband, Jim, attended the meeting in part to gather
signatures to support Kentucky House Bill 192, named after her son, that
would enable the parents of adult-age drug users to force their children
into treatment.

Other speakers Tuesday outlined obstacles to dealing with the drug problem
and possible ways to circumvent them:

* Mary Pat Behler, collaboration director of NorthKey Community Care, said
that 50,000 kids ranging in age from 9 to 17 live in the eight Northern
Kentucky counties her organization serves. Of those, she said 5,000 need
treatment for substance abuse. "The problem is, we have no in-patient
treatment programs for teens," she said. "You have a serious problem, you
have to go to Lexington, Louisville or Columbus."

* Jim Paine, director of the Northern Kentucky Drug Strike Force, said he
has 12 agents working his agency's four counties -- Campbell, Kenton, Boone
and Grant. "All the (heroin) problem doesn't come from Cincinnati," he
said, but "a lot of it" comes from Over-the-Rhine, by way of New York, New
Jersey and Detroit.

* Alexandria Police Chief Mike Ward called for participation in
Neighborhood Watch programs: "Some 89,000 people live in Campbell County,
an area served by a total of 175 police officers. That's a lot of you and
not a lot of us. We can't do solve this problem by ourselves."

* U.S. Rep. Ken Lucas, D-Richwood sent a statement encouraging parents to
get involved. Wes Wright, a Lucas aide, listed a dozen federal grants for
various drug prevention and intervention programs. He also said Lucas would
"make phone calls to support any efforts you pursue."

One of the dozen who signed Mrs. Kinney's volunteer sheets, Kathy McGill,
48, of Alexandria, urged parents to look in their children's rooms. More
than 10 years ago, she said she found her children were cultivating
marijuana under grow lights in their closets.

"I have four grown children -- two of whom have had problems with drugs and
alcohol," she said. "Now I have three grandchildren. I'm trying to keep
informed for their sake. What we're doing here matters. We can make a
difference. But we have to work at it."