SUFFOLK YOUTH LEARN PITFALLS OF DRUGS, ALCOHOL USE

SUFFOLK - Suffolk students were schooled in the dangers of and laws
governing drugs, alcohol and tobacco at an all-schools forum Thursday.

About 150 students representing Suffolk's public and private schools
attended the second annual meeting at Bennett's Creek Park.

Law enforcement officers explained to them how sniffing products such as
glue, correction fluid and powdered drink mixes, as well as underage
drinking and smoking, can harm them.

"Have you heard of huffing?" Suffolk police officer Chuck Terrell asked the
students. Some acknowledged with a mumble that they had.

"Does anyone here have a friend who sniffs or inhales anything at all?" A
student told Terrell she knows a girl who sniffs powdered Kool-Aid, while a
boy said a friend sniffs glue.

"When you inhale up the nose, it's like sandpaper," Terrell said of
snorting substances such as a powdered drink mix. "When you inhale
something it goes directly to the brain in seven seconds," he said. He
urged the students not to be pressured into trying inhaling just to be cool.

"Inhaling is a quick way to die."

After the lesson on inhaling, John Hughes -- an Alcoholic Beverage Control
agent -- told them that what seems like a small breach of the law can land
them in big trouble.

For instance, using a fake identification card to buy alcohol is a federal
violation that's investigated by the FBI. "It goes in your FBI record, and
whatever you want to do, like go into the military, it stays with you."

Hughes also told the students -- who ranged from fourth-graders to high
school seniors -- that underage drinking can result in the loss of driving
privileges, fines and jail.

"If you decide you want to party, be prepared for the consequences," he said.

The forum grew out of a desire to extend what students learned in the
classroom.

"You can't give them enough education about drugs, alcohol and tobacco,"
said Monette Harrell, the director of guidance for Nansemond-Suffolk
Academy's lower school. "I think they learn leadership skills at things
like this."

Kevin Diggs, a 16-year-old sophomore at Nansemond River High School, said
he knew a lot of the information, but he plans to pass it on.

"I would share it with my sisters and tell them the reasons why it's bad
for them and if they do drugs what will happen to them," he said. Diggs
will also take the knowledge he gained to a youth alcohol and drug
prevention conference he will attend this summer.

Thursday's event was sponsored by the Suffolk Substance Abuse and Youth
Council.

Regina Lightfoot can be reached at 247-4627 or by e-mail at
rlightfoot@dailypress.com