You can try the following: (adapted from an old slash mod)
<!--#INCLUDE FILE="config.asp" -->
<!--#INCLUDE FILE="inc_func_common.asp" -->
<%
Dim T_Subject, F_Subject, T_Message, FORUM_ID, CAT_ID, T_REPLIES, T_DATE, TOPIC_ID, slPosts, T_STATUS
slPosts = 5 ' number of posts
Set objConn = Server.CreateObject("ADODB.Connection")
Set objRec = Server.CreateObject("ADODB.RecordSet")
strConnect = "Provider=Microsoft.Jet.OLEDB.4.0;Data Source=" & Server.MapPath("path to your .mdb") '## MS Access 2000 using virtual path
objConn.Open strConnect ' replace strConnect with you connection String
strSQL = "SELECT TOP " & slPosts & _
" FORUM_TOPICS.CAT_ID, " & _
"FORUM_TOPICS.FORUM_ID, " & _
"FORUM_TOPICS.TOPIC_ID, " & _
"FORUM_TOPICS.T_SUBJECT, " & _
"FORUM_TOPICS.T_REPLIES, " & _
"FORUM_TOPICS.T_DATE, " & _
"FORUM_FORUM.F_SUBJECT, " & _
"FORUM_TOPICS.T_MESSAGE, " & _
"FORUM_TOPICS.T_MSGICON, " & _
"FORUM_TOPICS.T_STATUS " & _
"FROM FORUM_TOPICS " & _
"INNER JOIN FORUM_FORUM ON " & _
"FORUM_TOPICS.FORUM_ID = FORUM_FORUM.FORUM_ID " & _
"WHERE FORUM_FORUM.F_PRIVATEFORUMS = 0 " & _
" AND FORUM_TOPICS.T_STATUS = 1 " & _
"ORDER BY FORUM_TOPICS.TOPIC_ID DESC;"
set objRec = objConn.Execute(strSql)
While NOT objRec.EOF
T_Subject = objRec("T_SUBJECT")
F_Subject = objRec("F_SUBJECT")
T_Message = objRec("T_MESSAGE")
T_MSGICON = objRec("T_MSGICON")
FORUM_ID = objRec("FORUM_ID")
CAT_ID = objRec("CAT_ID")
T_REPLIES = objRec("T_REPLIES")
T_DATE = objRec("T_DATE")
TOPIC_ID = objRec("TOPIC_ID")
T_Message = formatStr( T_Message )& "<P></P>"
T_Message = Left( T_Message, instr( T_Message, "</P>" ) - 1 )
%>
<table border="0" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" width="100%" bgcolor="<% =strForumCellColor %>">
<tr>
<td align="left" bgcolor="<%=strAltForumCellColor %>"><img src='images/icon_mi_<% = T_MSGICON%>.gif' border="0" align="left"></td>
<td width="100%" align="left" bgcolor="<%=strAltForumCellColor %>">
<font face="Verdana" size="2" color="#800080"><b><%= T_SUBJECT%></b></font>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<TD valign="top" align="left" colspan="2" >
<font face="Verdana" size="2"><%= T_MESSAGE %></font><font face="Verdana" size="2" color="#800080">[ <a href="<%= strForumURL %>link.asp?TOPIC_ID=<%= TOPIC_ID %>">read more</a>|
"<i><%= F_SUBJECT %></i>" ]</font><br><br>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
<%
objRec.MoveNext()
Wend
objRec.Close
set objRec = Nothing
objConn.Close
set objConn = Nothing
%>
Please refer to this topic on the issue of detecting end of paragraph:
http://forum.snitz.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=38150