GROUPS TO DISCUSS DRUG ABUSE IN KENTUCKY

A state crime prevention group is joining with other anti-drug groups
to conduct a summit next week to discuss meth-amphetamines and
OxyContin abuse in the state.

Representatives of the Kentucky Crime Prevention Coalition, the Drug
Enforcement Administration, the National Crime Prevention Council and
the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services will participate
in the summit next Wednesday and Thursday at the Hyatt Regency in
downtown Lexington. The meetings begin at 8 a.m..

James Copple, vice president of the National Crime Prevention
Council, said law enforcement officials warned of the rapid rise in
methamphetamine use across the nation.

"That warning is now being taken very seriously as our country deals
with the consequences of this highly addictive substance," Copple
said.

Ishmon Burks, secretary of the Kentucky Justice Cabinet, said police
are working to control the manufacture and sale of methamphetamines
and the black-market sale of the prescription painkiller Oxycontin,
both of which have become popular among drug users across the state.

"It is unfortunate circumstances that bring this important summit to
Kentucky," Burks said.