STUDENTS HEAR HARD TRUTH ABOUT DRUGS

Meeting At Mariners Elementary Offers A 'scary' Taste Of Reality About The
Dangers Of Drug Abuse.

NEWPORT BEACH -- The students were shocked to learn what drugs can do to
the human brain.

Nearly 100 children and their parents on Thursday heard results of the
latest research on the damage various drugs do to one's gray matter.

"I thought it was scary, about how they said drugs could make your brain
tell your body to shut down," said 11-year-old Alicia Plecas, who is in the
sixth grade at Mariners Elementary School.

Alicia referred to a video shown at an anti-drug assembly held at her
school for students of Mariners, Kaiser and Newport Heights elementary
schools. The video was about a boy named Randy who died from mixing cocaine
and alcohol. That combination can cause the brain to begin instructing the
body's organs to shut down.

It was just one of several graphic slides, videos and descriptions
depicting the reality of drug use.

"I thought it was interesting and really kind of surprising with the stuff
they were talking about, what it could do to you," said Jacque Steve, 11.

Families also heard one woman's horror story of watching her son die of
heroin abuse.

Judy Davis told the students about the death of her son, Bobby, with the
hope that sharing her heartbreaking story will prevent others from
experiencing it themselves.

"That was so sad, her story," said Sharon Stewart, who has two daughters,
one at Kaiser and another at Newport Harbor High School. "But I guess that
was the point."

Stewart had planned on attending the talk with her daughter, Melissa, a
sixth-grader at Kaiser, where they promoted the evening's events.

But when she heard the reason for bringing the talk to the younger students
- -- that students at Newport Harbor High said the lecture was too late for
them -- she dragged her 14-year-old along, too.

The third portion of the evening gave audience members a break from the
shock factor and attempted to offer some solutions.

Bill Serry, a family counselor who also addresses special needs and drug
problems at Corona del Mar High School, spoke about the emotional effects
of drugs. He explained to the students that it's normal to feel down sometimes.