Merv Moves to Boost Drug Battle

Merv Griffin has “just said yes” to First Lady Nancy Reagan--and that’s a $5 million nod to make her “dream” come true.

A longtime friend of both the President and his wife, Griffin will host a May 2 breakfast at his Beverly Hills home. Invited: a guest list that the former talk-show host and millionaire entrepreneur said includes “every mover and shaker in this part of the world.”

The $5-million goal from the gathering would provide half of the $10 million needed to get the Nancy Reagan Center for drug abuse under way. The project involves purchasing a bankrupt, 145-bed San Fernando Valley hospital, converting and staffing it. Phoenix House, the nation’s largest private, nonprofit drug-abuse services agency, will operate the center. The new facility is envisioned by both Mrs. Reagan and Phoenix House president Dr. Mitchell Rosenthal as what she called “by example and through research and training, a central institution in the battle against youthful drug abuse.”

According to Griffin, the First Lady, who has spearheaded the “just say no” campaign against youthful drug abuse, called and asked for his help for the Phoenix House facility several weeks ago. As Griffin told it, Nancy Reagan said, “I want to come back and go right to work. I will not let the momentum go on this program. Merv, will you help me?”

Griffin said he was more than impressed by the “great track record” of Phoenix House, which Rosenthal said had a 70% recovery rate for teen-agers who completed 12 months or more of treatment. Griffin added that he told the First Lady, “Nancy, I really want to get this accomplished, so the minute you arrive back here in town, the facility should be opened and operating.”

Mrs. Reagan, in a written response to questions submitted to the White House, said that she intends to remain “actively involved . . . my concern about youthful drug abuse didn’t begin when my husband was elected President and it won’t end when we leave the White House.”

Rosenthal said that the First Lady had an ongoing and deep understanding of the Phoenix House program, which currently operates out of six centers in the New York City area and four in California. She has spent extensive time visiting Phoenix House facilities and learning about the program, Rosenthal said. Mrs. Reagan called the Phoenix House approach “experienced” and said it was a “financially sound and administratively strong institution.”

Among the several dozen top names invited to breakfast in Griffin’s tennis pavilion will be a goodly number of folks culled from the Forbes 400--people like Marvin Davis, Lew Wasserman, Dr. Armand Hammer, Unocal’s Fred Hartley, publisher Rupert Murdoch, developer David Murdock--as well as close Reagan friends like Bonita Granville Wrather and Mary Jane Wick. Included on the Nancy Reagan Center advisory committee are Paul Ziffren (his wife Mickey is a Phoenix House board member), businessman Leonard Straus and entertainment mogul Grant Tinker.

But even from that crowd, isn’t $5 million a lot of money? The charming Merv had a quick retort: “We’re going to give them both halves of the English muffin.”

Mrs. Reagan will fly out the night before the breakfast, make a presentation, then fly directly back to Washington, Griffin said. He stressed that as First Lady, she must leave the breakfast before any fund-raising pitch is made, no matter how good the cause.

But her role as presenter he saw as key. When she became First Lady, Griffin said, “There were a lot of doubters . . . But she has cut through and she has gotten the message out. It is less chic in any community to be a druggie. It is far classier not to be a druggie.”