BITS AND PIECES - FIRST'S TROUBLES

The Forsyth Initiative for Residential Self-help Treatment (FIRST) has had
a history of difficulty since it opened in Winston-Salem in 1991. The
problems continue, as its founder and president, Mary Hogden, has been
fired, and now a report of inappropriate spending at FIRST has surfaced.

What should not be lost in all this turmoil is the fact that the program
does not receive public money and has, despite it all, been highly
successful in helping recovering drug and alcohol abusers to learn trades
and lead productive lives. FIRST now has operations in Winston-Salem, Black
Mountain, Wilmington and Whiteville.

FIRST's administrators may not always have run as tight a financial ship as
they should have, but they ran a good program, one that is well worth saving.

[Remainder of article discussing several other short items of local
interest unrelated to drug policy or each other, per the column headline,
snipped]