Group Suggests Methods To Combat Use Of Drugs

A committee of the Ann A r b o r Tribal C o u n c i 1 met recently to discuss the use of hard drugs in Ann Arbor, and steps that can be taken to combat their use. The committee will recommend to the Tribal Council that a campaign be launched to combat the use of such "hard" drugs as heroin, amphetamines, and barbituates. The Tribal Council is a recently-formed coalition o f radical and underground groups in Ann Arbor which has united for the stated purpose of fighting the use and sale of hard drugs. The Council includes members from the White Panthers, Students for a Democratie Society (SDS), the Gay Liberation Front, Ozone House and s e v e r a 1 other groups. Teh committee will impress upon the Tribal Council the need for new and hopefully expanded quarters for Drug Help, Inc., as well as the need for financial resources to support the programs suggested by the committee to the Tribal Council. The committee will recommend to the Tribal Council that the problem be dealt with in the following four ways: 1 ) A "community center" should be organized. This center would NOT be a place for people to go to do things like play ping-pong, but rather a place where people go tö get together and find out what to do within the community. Also, this "community center" would be a place for people who are having trouble with drugs to go to for help. 2) Ann Arbor's Drug Help clinic should offer expanded services to deal with "hard drug" problems, to the point of having "flying squads" of Drug Help personnel who could go to the aid of persons having trouble with hard drugs, and remain with them thru the severe crisis. 3) "Altérnate Environments" should be available for people who are trying to find help in kicking a hard drug habit. These altérnate environments could be communes or other homes. 4) An education program onj a large scale should be enteredl into, letting people know that] hard drugs are a "bummer" and that if they're into hard drugs, that people are concerned about them and that: help is available to them.