UF GRAD ATTENDS MEETING ON DRUG USE AT THE WHITE HOUSE

A recent University of Florida graduate was among those attending a
meeting on drug use with President George W. Bush at the White House
this week.

Ronald "J.R." Denson Jr., former president of the UF chapter of
Students Taking Action, Not Drugs, was representing college students
when he met with national leaders in drug prevention Thursday morning
in the Roosevelt Room at the White House.

"The best part of the meeting is probably the encouragement that came
from it - a lot of people will think that education and other
initiatives that are forming aren't doing a whole lot and aren't
really accomplishing anything, but this meeting showed that is not the
case," Denson said. "Prevention initiatives work."

Leaders at the meeting discussed what the Office of National Drug
Control Policy has accomplished in regards to alcohol and drug abuse
prevention over the last eight years, Denson said.

Denson said he was chosen for the White House meeting when the
Drug-Free America Foundation was asked to find a student who has been
working with the issues that were going to be discussed at the meeting.

Drug-Free America then contacted UF, and the Student Health Care
Center suggested Denson based on his experience working with the
issues. Denson worked closely with Gator Well while at UF, and helped
create the "sketchy drunk guys" ads displayed on Regional Transit
System buses in Gainesville.

Others at the meeting included Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the
National Institute of Drug Abuse at the National Institute of Health,
and Josh Hamilton, an outfielder for the Texas Rangers who overcame a
debilitating drug addiction and later wrote a book on his addiction
and recovery.

Denson, 25, graduated from UF in spring 2008, having majored in
Spanish with a minor in teaching English as a second language. Since
graduation, he has worked as a volunteer in Santiago, Chile in a
children's hospice setting. Since returning to Gainesville, he has
worked as a Spanish translator in a doctor's office.

He also has been working with middle school, high school and college
students in northeast Florida on alcohol and drug abuse prevention
initiatives since 2005. During his time at UF and as president of
STAND, he implemented substance abuse prevention programs, including
orientation for incoming freshmen.