RADFORD PLANS ANTI-DRUG FAIR

This week's drug bust in Radford and Pulaski drove home the problem of drug
use for Karen LaPlante, Radford's juvenile crime control coordinator.

RADFORD - When five teenagers in a row tested positive for cocaine use last
year, Karen LaPlante knew she had to do something to help parents steer
their children in the right direction.

Earlier this week, when 16 Radford residents accused of running a major
drug ring were arrested on federal drug charges, LaPlante, the city's
juvenile crime control coordinator, knew her instincts had been right.

LaPlante's vision will come to life Oct. 5 at the city's new recreation
center as the Family Fun Fair, an event for parents and their children of
all ages. The event is built around showing young people the dangers of
drug and alcohol abuse and giving them alternative things to do, LaPlante said.

Organizations from Radford and surrounding areas will set up booths showing
off what activities they offer to children.

"You always hear about what's wrong in a community, and there are things
that are wrong. But we have a lot of positive things going on in this area
as well," LaPlante said. "It's our hope that if parents and their children
see what those things are, we can get them involved in those kinds of
positive activities before they turn to drugs."

Parents of teenagers will also be able to pick up free drug-test kits.

"My goal is to let the parents find out before their child winds up in
trouble," she said. "It keeps it in the home and gives parents a chance to
deal with it."

LaPlante, who gives drug screens to teenagers for the court system and at
parents' requests, said she was startled last year when a series of the
tests she doled out turned up positive for cocaine use. The discovery
startled her, especially considering that 73 percent of teenagers who do
test positive have been using marijuana, she said.

"People don't realize you can

mix cocaine and other drugs or mix pills and alcohol and you can wind up a
dead human being," she said.

Radford residents got a sense of how deep the drug problems run - for
everyone - earlier this week when charges were announced against 16 people.
U.S. Attorney John Brownlee said they were involved in a drug ring that
distributed more than 5 kilograms of crack cocaine, 5 kilograms of powder
cocaine and multiple pounds of marijuana in the last 2 1/2 years in Radford
and Pulaski County. It was the largest cocaine bust in Radford, authorities
said.

Radford Police Chief Wes Terry said the group is suspected in several
drive-by shootings, including an incident several years ago that involved
shots fired at a Radford officer's home. No one was injured in any of the
shootings.

"These were very bad boys," Terry said.

He said the group was considered the largest distributors of hard drugs in
the city and the arrest should curtail drug traffic in the city for some
time. But, he said, someone else will always move in to take over the business.

Drugs are a problem in Radford, just like they are everywhere else,
LaPlante said. But in Radford, a small city of about 16,000, the problem
hits closer to home, she said.

"We don't have as many visible problems in Radford, but when you bring them
to light, people do want to do something about it," she said. Other
activities planned at the Family Fun Day include demonstrations by Dusty,
Radford' police dog, and the "Fatal Vision" course, in which children drive
a golf cart through an obstacle course while wearing goggles that mimic
drug-or alcohol-impaired vision. Motivational speaker Joseph Jennings, a
6-foot, 1-inch, 260-pound former drug addict and gang leader who has been
stabbed, burned and shot 13 times, will address the crowd.

The event runs from 1 to 5 p.m. at the Radford Recreation Center.

SHAY WESSOL can be reached at

381-1665 or shayw@roanoke.com.

Percent-

'We don't have as many visible problems in Radford, but when you bring them
to light, people do want to do something about it.'

KAREN LAPLANTE
JUVENILE CRIME CONTROL COORDINATOR
Percent