Not all drug deals are taking place in dark alleys late at night. In fact it might surprise you to know that they are happening in local neighborhoods, homes and area shopping centers. The buyers and sellers range from teenagers to older adults. In fact, illegal drug activity continues to be a battle to be fought in almost every community across America and Marion County is not exempt from this problem.
The Crawford-Marion ADAMH Board in partnership with the Marion-Crawford Prevention Program believes this issue is critically important and will sponsor a second training provided by Operation Street Smart of the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department.
The two hour program will take place Tuesday, September 4th from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Tri-Rivers Career Center Auditorium. The officers have each spent time as undercover detectives fighting the war against drugs. Each will give the audience a riveting account of today’s youth drug scene.
Jodi Galloway, director of the Marion-Crawford Prevention Program states, “It is our hope that participants will leave armed with vital information on drug trends, terminology, paraphernalia and physiological effects. The information is crucial for anyone working with youth, especially parents and teachers.”
The officers also will “escort” examples of designer street drugs through the audience for a hands-on opportunity to learn how to identify them. This will include drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, crack, heroin and methamphetamines as well as the increased use of date rape drugs, steroids and prescription medications.
ADAMH Board director Jody Demo-Hodgins notes that this program is a continuation of the Marion County Opiate Task Force’s efforts to increase awareness about all drugs but specifically about the ever increasing use of prescription based opiates like codeine, hydrocodone, oxycodone and methadone. She further notes that heroin is an opiate and that people addicted to prescription opiates often move on to heroin when they can no longer obtain the pill based form.
Demo-Hodgins stated, “Prescription drug abuse is the nation’s fastest growing drug problem. There is a misconception that because these drugs are manufactured and approved by the FDA that they are safe. One of the biggest issues is that these medications are often shared between friends and family members.”
Such activity is known as diversion and as much as 57% of prescription opiates are diverted for use by a person other than the one for whom it was prescribed.
In 2010, 2 million people reported using prescription painkillers non-medically for the first time within the last year, nearly 5,500 a day, according to the Centers for Disease Control. One person dies every 19 minutes from prescription drug abuse in the U.S, the CDC says. In Marion County in 2011, there were enough opiate based prescriptions issued to provide every man woman and child in the county with 78 pills.
The program is free and open to adults in the community. Pre registration is encouraged but not mandatory. For more information or to register please call 740-387-8531.
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