SCHOOLS TO DISCUSS DANGERS OF DRUG USE A Program For Elementary Students And Their Parents Will Feature The Story Of Judy Davis, Whose Son Succumbed To Heroin Addiction Last Year. NEWPORT BEACH -- When anti-drug speakers appeared at Newport Harbor High School last spring, students suggested that they get the message out to kids while they are at a younger age. With that in mind, Judy Davis will go to Mariners Elementary School tonight and tell the story about how her son, Bobby, died of an apparent heroin overdose a little more than a year ago. "Harbor High kids said 'It's too late -- we're either hooked or not interested in listening anymore,' " Davis said. "They said 'It's too late for us.' One kid last spring told me that his sister is in the fifth grade and she's on cocaine." Davis and two other speakers will tell their stories to students and parents from Newport Heights, Kaiser and Mariners elementary schools in an effort to educate the community and discourage children from getting involved with drugs. Since her son's death, Davis has done extensive research on drug addiction. She said if she had known then what she knows now, it could have helped her save Bobby's life. "He started with pot, which is 75% stronger now than it used to be," she said. "So when parents say 'I did that. It's OK,' it's not OK." As Davis backtracked in an effort to figure out where things went wrong for her son -- who was an athlete, a singer and a student leader -- she realized there were signs that she had ignored. "There was this underlying sadness in him and I couldn't pinpoint it exactly," she said. "I took him to counselors and nowadays they would have drug tested him, but I didn't know he had depression." After Davis shares her story as a mother forced to deal with the harsh realities of drugs, Dr. Daniel Headrick, the head of chemical dependence at Hoag Hospital, will present a medical report, including the most up-to-date research. Once parents and students have heard Headrick's medical evidence and cold, hard facts, counselor William Serry will offer solutions. Serry has worked with the Newport-Mesa Unified School District in helping teach students a better way to deal with difficult times. Davis hopes that by educating these families, she can save other children's lives. Although it can be painful, Davis said that knowing the program has already helped some people gives meaning to her son's death. "It's very painful, it's very ugly and it's devastating to the human body," she said of drug abuse. "It destroys the human body."
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