O'MALLEY LAUNCHES ANTI-DRUG PROGRAM

Potential Rivals For Governor Back Baltimore's Effort

BALTIMORE, April 5 -- Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley, who is contemplating
a run for governor of Maryland, today announced a broad anti-drug program
so popular that the two other leading contenders for governor stood with
him as he outlined an ambitious campaign of television commercials,
improved drug treatment and outreach to addicts and at-risk youngsters.

Dozens of Maryland political, business and community leaders joined
O'Malley at Israel Baptist Church on the city's blighted east side for the
announcement, which stretched for more than two hours and became, at times,
a motivational rally with the packed-in crowd shouting "Amen!" to the speakers.

Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, the leading contender for the
Democratic gubernatorial nomination, and U.S. Rep. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr.,
the leading Republican, both spoke at O'Malley's request. Also there were
Kweisi Mfume, the NAACP president; Ben Carson, a well-known Baltimore
pediatric neurosurgeon; banker H. Furlong Baldwin, one of the city's most
powerful business leaders; U.S. Rep. E. Elijah Cummings (D); many state
legislators; and Prince George's County Executive Wayne K. Curry (D).

"This is not about politics," O'Malley said in introducing Ehrlich. "It's
bigger than partisanship."

It also illustrated the power of whoever is mayor of Baltimore, Maryland's
largest city. Even as the Washington suburbs become a political force in
state politics with their growing populations, a big-city mayor can still
command political and media attention.

And though O'Malley trails Townsend in polls on the Democratic
gubernatorial primary, today's event showed why a Baltimore mayor can
remain a political contender who must be reckoned with.

Curry said he came because he wanted to work with O'Malley on drug
addiction, a problem Prince George's shares with Baltimore. "We're sharing
goals and objectives," he said. "I hope we can extend that feeling of
excitement" statewide.

The turnout of political hopefuls, he said, showed "the most certain
[Democratic] votes . . . come out of Prince George's and Baltimore."

O'Malley's campaign is called "Baltimore Believe" and is meant to capture
public attention not only in the Baltimore region but throughout Maryland.
It will begin with a four-minute video, illustrating the city's drug
neighborhoods through the eyes of a 10-year-old boy, which will appear
during all of the 6 p.m. newscasts on Baltimore's television stations Monday.

In the coming weeks, there will be television and radio commercials as part
of a $2 million advertising campaign, paid for by private donations and a
federal grant. That will be followed by direct appeals to business and
community leaders to enact mentoring programs for young people.

The hope of the campaign's leaders is to show Marylanders that success in
addressing Baltimore's drug problems can spread optimism throughout the state.

"With programs like this, there is hope for the future," said U.S. Rep.
Roscoe G. Bartlett, a conservative Republican who represents rural Western
Maryland and brought the crowd alive with shouts of "Yeah!" when he spoke.

President Bush's administration even weighed in with praise, with drug czar
John Walters telling the crowd, "What is happening here is what we want to
happen around the nation."

O'Malley, 39, took office a little more than two years ago on a pledge to
curtail Baltimore's crime and drug epidemic. During his administration,
violent crime has decreased 23 percent and drug-related emergency room
admissions declined 19 percent last year, the largest percentage decrease
in the nation.

The mayor said the Baltimore Believe campaign has long been a planned part
of the strategy but only began to take shape over the past five months. He
said he wanted a significant decline in crime and drug use to give
credibility to the advertising and outreach efforts.

O'Malley's efforts aren't without a potential downside. Much of Baltimore's
business community is trying to emphasize a turnaround in the city,
highlighting urban renewal, not drug-dealing.

"There's a risk in addressing our problems and being honest about them,"
O'Malley said. But "to say everything is Mayberry overnight would not be
honest."