HOLYFIELD TAKES JABS AT DRUG ABUSE DURING RALLY

PENSACOLA - Former heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield came out
swinging in the battle against drug abuse Monday as nearly 7,000 middle
school students cheered along.

Holyfield joined federal Drug Enforcement Agency Director Asa Hutchinson
and Lt. Gov. Frank Brogan in a prelude to national Red Ribbon Week. It
begins Wednesday to commemorate the 1985 death of DEA Agent Enrique "Kiki"
Camarena and to urge youngsters to "say no" to drugs, alcohol and tobacco.

Camarena, a Marine Corps veteran, was murdered by drug dealers in Mexico,
where he had grown up in a dirt-floored house before moving, at age 9, to
the United States. People in his hometown, Calexico, Calif., began wearing
red ribbons in his honor after he was killed.

Holyfield, a native of Atmore, Ala., near Pensacola, said he, too, came
from a humble background. He said he received encouragement at age 8 from a
Boys Club coach who told him he could be heavyweight champion if he didn't
quit. Twenty years later, he achieved that goal.

He told students from the Florida Panhandle and nearby Alabama communities,
who gathered at the Pensacola Civic Center, that he received another
message at the Boys Club.

"There was someone that came out and spoke with me and told me to say no to
drugs just like I'm going to tell you today to say no to drugs," Holyfield
said. "I'm here today because I chose not to do drugs."

Brogan touted the recently released 2002 Florida Youth Substance Abuse
Survey that showed declines in drug, alcohol and tobacco use among sixth-to
12th-grade students.

He also brought greetings from Gov. Jeb Bush but never mentioned the Bush
family's struggle with drug abuse. Last week, the governor's only daughter,
Noelle, 25, was sentenced to 10 days in jail after she was accused of
having crack cocaine in her shoe at an Orlando drug treatment center.

"I leave that to the governor and the first lady," Brogan later told
reporters. "They have truly been candid about their experiences in a direct
attempt to try to tell other people that this can happen to anyone."

Several top national and state law enforcement agents will discuss drug
abuse, prevention and treatment at a town hall meeting tonight.

The "United We Stand Against Drugs" meeting will be at 7 p.m. at the City
Commission chambers in City Hall. Informational display booths will be
available for viewing at 6:30 p.m.

"The overall purpose or focus is basically coalition-building between law
enforcement and the treatment aspect to curb demand for drugs in the
community," said Special Agent Greg Poore of the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration office in Tallahassee.

Among those expected to participate are U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration Director Asa Hutchinson, U.S. Attorney Gregg Miller, Florida
Drug Czar Jim McDonough, the Tallahassee Police Department, the Leon County
Sheriff's Office, Disc Village, Mothers in Crisis and Turn About.

Some people benefit more from drug rehabilitation than jail, a decision
that's made in the courts, Poore said. The meeting will help law
enforcement officers and treatment and prevention officials assess how they
can better work together to end drug abuse in the community.