Pubdate: Wed, 25 Aug 1999
Source: Ogdensburg Advance News (NY)
Copyright: 1999 St Lawrence County Newspapers Corp.
Contact:  P.O. Box 409 Ogdensburg, New York 13669
Website: http://www.ogd.com/
Author: Brian Kidwell, Journal Reporter

CAID ON DRUG SWEEP: JUST THE BEGINNING

The head of a local anti-drug activist group says the arrest last week of 34
people in a countywide narcotics sweep is more validation of his
organization's mission.

"It proved to me what a coordinated effort can do," said David Morgan, the
Ogdensburg resident who heads the city chapter of Citizens Against Illegal
Drugs.  "I also think that this is the beginning."

Morgan responded this morning to published criticism Tuesday of the arrests
by representatives of the Syracuse-based drug decriminalizaton group
ReconsiDer.  They said the sweep was ineffective because it netted small
amounts and low-level dealers and users.

Not surprisingly, according to Morgan, the opinion of CAID runs far to the
contrary.  He said the bust was validation.

"I felt like it proved how widespread the problem of illegal drugs was in
Ogdensburg and in St.Lawrence County" he said this morning.  "When I say
local, I don't just mean Ogdensburg, but also the rest of the county.'

Morgan and his wife, Michelle, started up the Ogdensburg chapter of
Watertown-based CAID a year ago.  They wanted to stress the need for drug
enforcement, education and treatment.

The Morgans were successful in helping to get the police department to
create a narcotics investigation officer.  Their plea was personal to the
extent that their Elizabeth street neighborhood was allegedly the scene of
illegal drug activity.  In deed, the house next door was raided by the city
police department in cooperation with the St.Lawrence County Drug Task Force.

Morgan said CAID and ReconsiDer have missions so far opposite each other
that there is no room for meeting at a halfway point for any "fruitful
discussion" of their differences.

"I don't see any benefit in that," he said.  "We are coming from the
standpoint that these drugs are illegal."

Morgan said last week's drug arrests were ample proof that he and others in
the city were on the right track when they started CAID in Ogdensburg a year
ago.

"In the last year, our initiative has been for an increased law enforcement
we believed that worked out," He said.

Morgan said the city CAID chapter has sent out "thousands" of pieces of
anti-drug informational literature to focus on the treatment and educational
aspects of its message.  That will continue, he added, with the Aug. 18 raid
a key impetus.

"I think we opened the door," Morgan said.  "The drug sweep gave it
additional momintum.

Closer to home, the Morgans say there is plenty of proof that a year had
made a big difference.  Their neighborhood is quieter, children are playing
outside, and the house next door is no longer a trouble spot.  All in all,
an improvement.  "Yes it is," Morgan said.  "There is no doubt about that."

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