NO DRUGS, NO DRINKING IS THE FOCUS DURING RED RIBBON WEEK

This week, McAlester Public School students are filling gymnasiums and
parking lots to get a better understanding of the dangerous effects of
drugs.

School officials say that they are trying to teach the kids that all
kinds of drugs are dangerous, not just the 'hard kind'.

"We had Jack Vogel come by and tell kids about the dangers of
smoking," said Karen Yarbrough, principal of Puterbaugh Middle High
School. "He was breathing and talking through the hole in his throat.
His voice was mechanical but I think he made an impression."

McAlester Police Officer Nathan Bond believes that many people don't
think of alcohol as a drug, but according to him, it is just about as
dangerous as any other drug.

"Kids need to realize that drinking alcohol can cause death," Bond
said.

"It can cause death the first time that it is consumed. It is our
biggest concern because kids can get their hands on it, and start
drinking without knowing that it kills."

Students laughed as they watched Officer Tony Crabtree put a pair of
"drunk" goggles on fellow classmates, and instructed them to
participate in a number of field sobriety tests.

Students soon realized that walking a straight line was nearly
impossible and touching the tip of the nose with a forefinger was like
trying to stand still on a rocking boat.

Some of the kids were visibly dizzy and had trouble walking even after
taking the goggles off.

Later, students and teachers alike followed police officers outside,
where Bosco the drug dog pointed out methamphetamine in a car in less
than a minute. Bosco was imported from Holland and is cared for by
McAlester Police Officer Kevin Bishop.

Red Ribbon Week began to commerate the memory of a United States
undercover drug enforcement agent, Kiki Camerena, who in 1985, was
kidnapped, taken to Mexico and killed by a drug gang.