First Lady Tells L.A. Group to Say No to Drug Use

Nancy Reagan told an enthusiastic audience of 2,000 Tuesday to say no to drugs and tell their friends to do the same, even if it means losing a friend or two.

The First Lady, addressing the Los Angeles World Affairs Council, urged her listeners “to put your conscience and your principles on the line” and “be intolerant of drug use anywhere, anytime, by anybody.”

“You cannot separate polite drug use at a chic Los Angeles party from drug use in some back alley somewhere,” she said, adding: “They are both morally equal.

Cites Responsibility

“You have the responsibility of forcing the issue to the point of making others uncomfortable and yourself unpopular,” Mrs. Reagan told the luncheon gathering at the Century Plaza Hotel. “In all likelihood this will cost you some friends. But if a friendship is based on nothing more than condoning drugs, it’s not much of a friendship anyway.

“I don’t separate alcohol and drugs at all,” she said when asked later if her fight against illegal drug use included alcoholism.

Mrs. Reagan, who has been crusading against drug use for several years, said she thinks her battle to make Americans more aware of the horrors of drug and alcohol abuse is gradually being won.

“I certainly see more about drug abuse in the papers and on television. More well-known people are coming forward and talking about their addiction. Slowly, the wall of denial seems to be crumbling.”

Parent Groups Help

Mrs. Reagan pointed to the independent creation of 9,000 parent groups across the nation, which “are doing marvelous work in closing down head shops, becoming involved in school drug programs, and forming support groups for one another.”

She said she was heartened by the formation of young people’s “Just Say No” clubs, terming them “positive peer groups to counter the pressures to use drugs.”

Mrs. Reagan, who left later in the day for the Reagans’ ranch near Santa Barbara where she and the President will vacation, had been staying at a suite in the Beverly Wilshire Hotel a block away from Monday’s hostage drama at the Van Cleef & Arpels Inc. jewelry store in which three died.

Elaine Crispen, a spokeswoman for Mrs. Reagan, said the First Lady watched events unfold on television and that the shop has special significance to her. “She is familiar with the store,” Crispen said. “When it was under previous management, and known as Ruser’s, that is where the President bought her wedding ring.”