BENEFIT CONCERT TO AID DANA POINT DRUG CLINIC

The way Coach House owner Gary Folgner tells it, getting public support for First Lady Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” anti-drug campaign is easy. But getting the public to say “yes” to constructive neighborhood programs for drug users who want to say “no,” is another story.

So Folgner is donating the use of his San Juan Capistrano nightspot, which in the past year has become Orange County’s premier concert club, for a benefit concert Sunday to raise money for the Straight Ahead drug abuse and rehabilitation clinic in Dana Point.

“A lot of people have the attitude: ‘We want to do something about drugs; we just don’t want to do it here.’ I feel that when people need treatment, that’s the time to help them,” Folgner said.

“The President’s ‘Just Say No’ idea is good as far as it goes, but realistically it takes a while for people to get off of drugs. And that costs money. Somebody doesn’t wake up one day and decide, ‘I’ll say no to drugs’ and that’s the end of it.”

The 2 p.m. show will feature local bands including Bastille, Secret Service, Benevolence, Common Bond and the Altar Boys. Tickets are $10, and Folgner said Straight Ahead will receive all proceeds above his cost of paying bartenders.

Despite all the attention focused on the country’s drug problems in recent years, many clinics offering treatment and rehabilitation to drug abusers are still financially strapped, said Mitch Cherness, facility manager for Straight Ahead. Cherness is a former drug addict who went through the Straight Ahead program successfully and stayed on to help other addicts get off drugs.

Folgner said he got involved with Straight Ahead after contacting Capistrano Valley School District officials about improving the quality of information about drugs going out to Orange County students.

“I feel that to stop the spread of drugs there’s only one way: education,” said Folgner, who has been in the restaurant, nightclub and bar business for about 15 years. “I hear so much b.s. about drugs from people who think they know what’s going on. In this business, I talk to a lot of kids and it seems like a lot of them get into trouble because they just don’t have anyone who will listen to them.”

In organizing Sunday’s concert, Folgner and Cherness hope to generate both money and awareness for the 12-year-old, privately funded shelter. Staff members at Straight Ahead also teach courses in “Alternatives to Drug Abuse” and “Therapeutic Communities” at Saddleback College in Mission Viejo.

Straight Ahead has only one ongoing government contract--the clinic accepts drug users referred by the California Youth Authority, Cherness said. Other residents at the 50-bed converted motel on Coast Highway are wards of the court, parolees and anyone else trying to kick a drug habit.

The facility costs about $11,500 per month to operate, only a small portion of which is offset from sales at the Straight Ahead Thrift Shop.

“Everyone around here is very excited about the concert,” said Cherness, who is currently working on a bachelor’s degree at National University in Irvine and eventually plans to complete a Ph.D in counseling. “It’s very important to the people here to feel they are supported by the community.”

Straight Ahead offers a three-phase program that first helps addicts recognize and replace destructive life styles and attitudes with positive self images. The facility also offers education and training to help the residents return to the community as productive citizens.

“To be honest, very few people make it to phase three. A lot of the YA’s (offenders sent by the CYA) just leave as soon as their time is up. Others get into phase two, get a job, save a little money and we never see them again. But for those who do go all the way through, we have a very high success rate,” Cherness said.

“Nobody came here because they were angels,” he said. “At one time or another we’ve all been pretty screwed up and done things we regret. It’s especially difficult for some residents because nobody ever cared about them and they don’t know how to deal with love and attention.”

Folgner said he plans to stage more benefits for Straight Ahead with bigger name acts in the future. “We get a lot of bands coming through here, and I’ve gotten a really good response from musicians who are willing to help,” he said.

Folgner and Cherness also hope to involve Straight Ahead “graduates” in public school drug education programs, similar to the “Scared Straight” programs that have proved successful in other areas.

“Kids aren’t dumb,” Folgner said. “If you try to scare them by saying they’ll turn into a monster after one puff of marijuana, they’ll find out that’s a lie, and it will be hard to regain their confidence. But you can show them that over a period of time you do turn into that monster gradually, when you get to the point where the drug is more important than anything else in life.”

LIVE ACTION: Love & Rockets will play UC Irvine’s Crawford Hall on Dec. 19. . . . Pop Art will play Night Moves in Huntington Beach on Dec. 26. . . . Tim Weisberg will be at the Coach House in Dec. 27.