DRUG PREVENTION TO BE TAUGHT

Instruction About The Dangers Of Club Drugs Is Coming To Some South
Mississippi College Classrooms

JACKSON COUNTY -Drug prevention efforts will enter South Mississippi
college classrooms this spring thanks to a grant funded through the Alcohol
and Drug Abuse division of the Mississippi Department of Mental Health.

Sonya Miller, prevention specialist with Gulf Coast Mental Health in
Gulfport, said the "Communities Mobilizing for Change" and "Project
Success" pilot programs financed by the five-year, $300,000 annual grant
will target a popular group of hallucinogens known as club drugs, such as
Ecstasy, GHB, Ketamine and Rohypnol.

"Not only do these programs include curricular education, but they also
address legal, institutional, social and health issues," Miller said.

According to Mississippi Bureau of Narcotics statistics, 28 percent of the
2,244 drug-related arrests in 2003 occurred in the counties where the
classroom-based programs will be tested.

Along with GCMH, DREAM of Hattiesburg, Jackson County Children's Services
Coalition, Pine Belt and Singing River Mental Health will implement the
only program of this kind in the state at the Perkinston, Jefferson Davis
and Jackson County campuses of Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College and
the Jackson County Alternative School.

Jim Yancey, JCCSC prevention director, said the 12-session courses aimed at
18- to 24-year-olds will be taught using a proven approach that emphasizes
students' personal strengths.

Instruction by professionals trained in treatment and prevention will be
combined with group discussion, projects and guest speakers, such as DEA
agents, for a well-rounded study of club drugs. But will students take the
courses seriously?

"I fully expect some students to disagree with the data and information we
have on the dangers of club drugs. Our role as teachers will be to teach
the information and allow the students to hammer out these vital drug
issues within the classroom setting," Yancey said.

He added if these pilot programs are successful, similar prevention efforts
will spread to other colleges and universities in the state.

If You Go

What: Kickoff reception for club drug prevention.

When: 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Jan. 31.

Where: East Central Community Center, Mississippi 614, Hurley.

Details: Jim Yancey, Jackson County Children's Services Coalition, 522-1965
or Sonya Miller, Gulf Coast Mental Health Center, 863-1132.