TEEN DRUG PROBLEM IS WIDESPREAD

Eufaula and Barbour County's drug problem isn't confined to one race.
It isn't confined to one school. It isn't confined to a few rough
neighborhoods. It's a widespread plague that knows no boundaries.

"We've got a severe problem in our white community with teenage whites
doing drugs," Barbour County Drug Task Force Commander Steven Hanners
said last week.

Hanners, speaking to a group of First United Methodist Church men,
said the drug problem isn't confined to one school, either.

"We have a drug problem in all of our schools," Hanners said.

Hanners said he expects the drug problem at Eufaula High to improve
now that searches can be conducted inside the school. In previous
years, agents only searched the parking lot with the help of drug dogs.

"We never searched the interior of the school...I think the problem in
our schools is about to be reduced," Hanners said. "The drug problem
in the high school is more prevalent than what we see."

Hanners said the best way to combat drugs at the high school would be
to hire an additional school resource officer and send students
through metal detectors and make them empty their pockets at the door.

"Up until then, I don't think that will happen. Will we ever stop the
problem at EHS?" Hanners said. "No. We can slow it down."

Hanners and Eufaula Police Chief Kenneth Walker said community
education and parental support were critical in waging the war on
drugs. Hanners said the drug and alcohol problem includes EHS, Admiral
Moorer Middle School, Lakeside, Dixie Academy and Barbour County High
School.

"Every school in Barbour County has some type of drug problem at some
point in time," he said.

He told the story of one 13-year-old caught selling drugs on
tape-twice. The youthful suspect vehemently denied the charges, and
his mother even got defensive. That's when Hanners rolled the tape.

"He just kind of slid down in his seat," Hanners said.

The juvenile was sent to boot camp for 90 days.

"He's living the life of the people around him," Hanners said. "He'll
eventually go back to jail."

Hanners said the Barbour/Bullock County Drug Task Force's four agents
made 200 arrests on drug charges over the past year. So far, they've
dismantled eight meth labs. Methamphetamines, a dangerous synthetic
drug made even in kitchens from toxic chemicals, are quickly becoming
a more popular drug in the area-especially in the white community.

"Meth will eventually overcome cocaine," Hanners said.

Hanners said the Drug Task Force's most recent sweep that netted 20
arrests, including many distribution charges, targeted "whites, blacks
and Hispanics."

But he said the drug problem in the white community is tougher to
fight from a law enforcement perspective, because there often aren't
"turf battles" out in the open between rival drug dealers. That makes
it harder for agents to get solid tips on drug dealers.

"We have to have reliable information to establish probable cause,"
Hanners said.

What's The Answer?

Asked what could be done to combat the growing drug problem, Hanners
said "education is the biggest thing."

The Drug Task Force spends time in every school in both Barbour and
Bullock counties educating children and teenagers about drugs.

He spent eight hours at Lakeside last year talking to students in
small groups, which he believes is far more effective than addressing
a gym full of teenagers.

"I have never gotten the kind of response like we got from the parents
at Lakeside," he said.

Hanners put some of the blame for the current drug problem on parents
and the lack of guidance they give their children.

"The parents today don't watch their kids and raise their kids like I
was raised," he said.

He also welcomes the chance to speak to any class at any school or
church youth group.

"All you've got to do is call us," he said.

The Barbour/Bullock County Drug Task Force can be reached at (334)
687-1223.