Neil Solomon

The state launched an aggressive radio and television drug prevention campaign yesterday aimed at inner-city youths who officials said are more likely to deal drugs than abuse them.The ads developed by the Media Advertising Partnership for a Drug Free Maryland and the Governor's Commission for Drug and Alcohol Abuse are aimed at black youths, ages 6 to 15.The messages are meant to go beyond teaching about the dangers of using drugs and are designed to help the youngsters become more resistant to all aspects of the drug world and more receptive of positive alternatives to drugs, according to James E. Burke, chairman of the Partnership for a Drug Free America.

A second woman has sued Dr. Neil Solomon, a Baltimore doctor and adviser to Gov. William Donald Schaefer, on charges that he lured her into a sexual relationship after she began seeing him for treatment of an illness.The woman, whose name was sealed in court records, said in her lawsuit that she met Dr. Solomon when he started taking an aerobics course she was teaching. She said he suggested that she become his patient.When she appeared for treatment, the suit says, he exploited his position of "power and trust" by persuading her to engage in sex. According to the suit, the sexual encounters took place both in his office and home.

Maryland needs a statewide grand jury to crack down on drug kingpins and to seize their hidden assets to pay for prevention programs, the head of the Governor's Alcohol and Drug Abuse Commission said yesterday.While the state has seen evidence of an overall decline in alcohol and drug addiction over the past four years, "we have not turned the corner on drug abuse. . . . There is not really a significant improvement," said Dr. Neil Solomon, the recently appointed commission chairman.Dr. Solomon faulted the federal government for failing to provide money and leadership in the war on drugs, suggesting Washington political motives for avoiding this unpopular subject.

State officials and about 25 local Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders will gather next week for the second phase of their "conversation" about using spirituality to stem substance abuse.The group will meet at the Episcopal Cathedral of the Incarnation in Homewood on Monday, more than two months after a larger group convened at the Forum banquet facility in northwest Baltimore for a series of speeches and workshops titled "Substance Abuse: A Spiritual Issue."The Governor's Drug and Alcohol Abuse Commission, the Maryland Interfaith Legislative Committee, the Baltimore Jewish Council, the Central Maryland Ecumenical Council and local Muslim congregations sponsored the October meeting.

Havre de Grace -- One of the sadder aspects of the Neil Solomon affair is that it wasn't what the doctor seems to have done that made it so newsworthy. It was his celebrity status.Suppose Dr. Solomon hadn't been a flamboyant self-promoter whose political ambitions were openly showing. Suppose he hadn't been a former Maryland health secretary, or an author, or an appointee of William Donald Schaefer.Suppose instead he had been a low-profile suburban practitioner whose name had never before appeared in the newspaper.

Dear Dr. Solomon: My husband recently had his annual physical examination, and one of the things his doctor told him was to take an aspirin every day. Apparently, this can keep him from getting a heart attack. Since there has been heart disease in my family, I was very interested in this, and I'd like to know whether taking aspirin would also be good for women. -- Mrs. N.D., Dover, Del.Dear Mrs. D.: First let me caution you about taking any medication over an extended period of time without first consulting a physician.

Gov. William Donald Schaefer said yesterday that he will disband his Advisory Council on AIDS and shift its work to his Drug and Alcohol Advisory Council -- creating consternation and anger among some AIDS activists.The governor said he wants a more energetic attack on AIDS in Maryland, one that focuses more sharply on education and prevention.Mr. Schaefer said he believes AIDS issues will be pushed more vigorously by Dr. Neil Solomon, head of the drug and alcohol panel, and he added, "many AIDS cases are drug related."

NEWS reports said recently that New York State's small businesses face a heavy new burden in 1993 as the state's primary health insurer increases premium costs for employees by up to 22.5 percent.The new rates affect 650,000 people, mostly employed in some 50,000 small businesses. Because many of these businesses are unable to absorb the higher costs and are reluctant to raise prices in competitive local markets, many small businesses operating on close margins are expected to cut or drop coverage for their employees.

Dr. Neil Solomon's attorney conceded in U.S. Bankruptcy Court yesterday that his client is liable for payment of damages to three women who allege that he took sexual advantage of them while they were in his care."

Melvin A. "Mickey" Steinberg likes to think of himself as a political miracle-worker. As a two-term lieutenant governor, he claims credit for pulling the right strings to revamp public higher education, for saving the Peabody Institute, for selling the legislature on the Camden Yards stadium and for winning unwinnable battles in the legislature for Gov. William Donald Schaefer.Now Mr. Steinberg wants to pull off a bigger miracle: He's selling himself as a political outsider -- though he's been a State House insider for a quarter-century.