OFFICIALS CITE PROGRESS IN DRUG BATTLE

PAINTSVILLE =8B State officials admit they haven't eliminated the availabilit
y
of Eastern Kentuckians' illegal drug of choice =8B OxyContin =8B but they say
the problem isn't as bad as it was a year ago.

Still, Gov. Paul Patton, speaking at a meeting of the Kentucky Appalachian
Commission last Friday in Paintsville, said a lot more needs to be done to
put an end to the `major problem' of drug abuse in Kentucky, especially in
the mountains, where the prescription painkiller Oxycontin has become the
most popular drug among many abusers.

OxyContin, designed for cancer patients and others with chronic pain, has
been attributed to dozens of overdose deaths in Kentucky, but the number of
those deaths is down this year, according to officials.

`We haven't eliminated it (Oxycontin),' said Kentucky State Police deputy
commissioner Tim Hazlette, a Johnson County native who also addressed the
commission Friday at the Ramada Inn. `It's still out there. But it=B9s not at
the level it was a year ago.'

Since February 2001, 800 people have been arrested in Kentucky for
trafficking and using the illegal drug, according to Justice Secretary
Ishmon Burks, another speaker at the event.

Patton, who said the state's budget crisis has hindered law enforcement=B9s
fight against drugs, asked Burks to form a task force to advise the General
Assembly on ways to strengthen drug treatment and education programs.

Patton noted that he's not `putting anything new in the budget' for drug
abuse prevention.

`I don't know where we go,' Patton said, =B3but we have a problem.=B2