ROCKY TARGETS DRUGS, BOOZE

Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson Says He Is Misunderstood

His attempts to enliven downtown with outdoor dining, an entertainment
district and longer club hours have been condensed into one salient word:
booze. Anderson's criticism of liquor laws and insistence that hot toddies
be served at a City Hall Olympic party didn't help.

Tired of being tagged the state's unofficial alcohol and drugs ambassador
- -- a plight he blames on the news media and critics -- the mayor has formed
his own think tank to prove otherwise.

"Both of my parents died of smoking-caused emphysema, and my father
struggled with alcoholism for much of his life," he says. "Substance abuse
inflicts huge amounts of personal suffering and generates enormous societal
costs. I'm as opposed to alcohol and drug abuse as anyone."

To back that claim, Anderson has cobbled together a 21-member Drug and
Alcohol Policy Task Force -- made up of allies and former detractors --
that will meet monthly to discuss school prevention programs, treatment,
incarceration and public awareness. At year's end, the task force will
draft a "white paper" of recommendations for the mayor to implement. The
goal is to reduce drug, alcohol and tobacco use.

Earnest and intense about his idea, Anderson insists the group is not
simply a political ploy.

"This has nothing to do with image," Anderson said. "It's the mayor's job
to improve quality of life in our community. I don't know of anything more
relevant than boosting the health and welfare of residents by reducing
substance abuse."

Just this week, he asked Mothers Against Drunk Driving legislative lobbyist
Jaynie Brown -- who loudly criticized Anderson's entertainment district
proposal -- to join. Brown, whose 4-month-old grandson, Matthew, was killed
by a drunken driver who rammed into his parents' car, wasn't sure where the
mayor stood. Now, Brown says, she and Anderson actually see eye to eye.

"After showing him the cold hard facts, we agreed," she says.

Anderson has enlisted DUI victims, parents of drug addicts, law enforcement
and homeless-service providers. Besides Brown, other committee members
include alcohol watchdog George Van Komen, City Prosecutor Sim Gill, Pamela
Atkinson of the Homeless Outreach Team and Maj. Wayne Froderberg of the
Salvation Army.

Task force member Jack Plumb, whose son Andy died of a heroine overdose six
years ago at age 22, calls himself the "fall off the truck" member. But his
personal perspective is critical to the group.

"In a way, it's dirty laundry if our kids use drugs," Plumb says. "We need
to put a face on this issue. People don't have to be embarrassed or
ashamed. We're losing more kids to overdoses than we are in car accidents.
We need to be aware that it's a fact of our lives."

Plumb hopes the mayor's task force can publicize and cut the stigma of drug
overdoses -- the No. 1 killer of Salt Lake County males ages 15 to 44 from
1991 to 1999.

Karol Kumpfer, former director of the federal Center for Substance Abuse
Prevention, agrees. "We know what stops drug use. We just need more
scientific, effective programs," she says. "We need to fill in the gaps."

Kumpfer, a professor in the University of Utah's Department of Health
Promotion and Education whose work Anderson quoted when he dumped DARE,
notes that adolescent marijuana use jumped 85 percent from 1992 to 1997 --
matching the highest point of youth marijuana use set in 1979.

The mayor's goal is to cut youth drug use to those numbers of a decade ago.

Task force members know the limits of their power. Salt Lake City typically
is not a forum for setting drug policy. Congress and state lawmakers do
that. And Salt Lake County and the state dispense more money for treatment.

Kumpfer acknowledges Anderson probably will need money at some point to
implement the group's ideas. Still, she says, the mayor's initiative is on
target.

"This has to be done at the community level," Kumpfer says. "If you're
going to make changes, you have to make them at the local level to have an
impact. We're putting all of it together."

And Luciano Colonna, director of the Harm Reduction Project, figures
Anderson's initiative could spark wider reforms.

"What the city can do to set drug policies is obviously very limited," he
says. "But you've got some smart and caring people who just want to improve
the overall health of the community, reduce crime and really take a look at
fiscal responsibility. The war on drugs is very expensive. And it doesn't
seem like the war is being fought in the most efficient way. At the very
least, it's going to raise community awareness."

Even Councilman Carlton Christensen, typically a skeptic of Salt Lake City
taking on any social services, is withholding judgment. "The goals are
admirable," he says. "These issues go beyond our municipal boundaries. It's
certainly worth taking a look at. Until they try, they might not really
know what they can do."

Plumb insists any collaborative effort is a good thing.

"Are we going to solve it? Heavens no," Plumb says. "None of us are capable
of changing the world or getting people to stop using. But if we at least
acknowledge the fact that we have a problem, we can affect change. If we
can come up with a direction, that's the most positive thing I've heard
since my loss six years ago."

Drug and Alcohol Policy Task Force:

Rocky Anderson, Salt Lake City mayor

George Van Komen, head of the Utah Alcohol Policy Coalition

Dagmar Vitek, deputy director of the Salt Lake Valley Health Department

Jack Plumb, concerned parent

Bruce Parsons, University of Utah professor

Teddi Velardi, Salvation Army

Jerry Harris, substance-abuse treatment provider

Wayne Froderberg, Salvation Army major

Joel Millard, Project Reality

Karol Kumpfer, former director of the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention

Pamela Atkinson, Homeless Outreach Team

Kelly Lundberg, University of Utah professor

Michael Crookston, LDS Hospital physician

Larry Peterson, substance-abuse treatment provider

Joy Erickson, American Heart Association

Allan Ainsworth, Wasatch Homeless Health Care

Sim Gill, Salt Lake City prosecutor

Luciano Colonna, Harm Reduction Project

Gary Baker, Cornerstone Counseling

Jaynie Brown, Mothers Against Drunk Driving

Joshua Ewing, Salt Lake City communications director