KEEP DRIVING HOME THE ANTI-DRUG MESSAGE

To the Editor:

When former President Reagan passed away recently I was reminded of
his devoted wife's message on drugs when he was president. It was
quite simply "Just Say No." For a number of youth this message worked,
but as "time" has a way of telling its own truth, many people needed
something else besides the "Just Say No" message because drugs like
alcohol, meth, crack cocaine, marijuana and prescription drug abuse
continue to be an issue in our county as well as the state and the
nation.

Attend a local baseball or football game, attend a soccer match, a
local beauty pageant or any event the parents of youth attend and ask
a parent if they know of someone who has been touched by the
horrendous effects of drug abuse. Ask our teenagers in the schools,
ask members of your local church, or have morning coffee at one of the
local stores in our county and ask that question. You already know the
answer.

There is an old saying, "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of
cure." Recently, the four schools systems in Jackson County completed
the science-based Project Northland. This anti-drug curriculum
utilized peer-led experiential activity-driven learning strategies to
support a "no use" drug message for our youth. More than 3,400
students in 130 sixth and seventh grade classroom settings
participated in this curriculum!

The scientific data being gathered all over the country as well as in
our county states this: "Prevention works." Prevention is like hammer
and a nail. You drive the nail again and again until it is all the way
in the wood. Prevention is a deterrent. It is driving the point of
what drugs will do to a child, to a teen, to an adult, to a family, to
a community.

Many thanks to our teachers, school counselors and school
administrators for taking the time and energy to provide this valuable
service to our children in Jackson County.

And, many thanks to the justice court judges who are elected to
enforce the underage drinking laws, the youth court judge, drug
counselors, policemen, the sheriff's department, local industry and
the men on the Jackson County Board of Supervisors who have each taken
a piece of this drug puzzle and are tackling the issues at various
levels.

This drug issue has the appearance of being insurmountable, but, step
by step, as a team, and as a community, we can have a profound impact
on the drug dilemma in our county as we continue to drive the message
about drugs and deliver that message in countless ways through the
voices of many people.

Jim Yancey

Prevention Director, Jackson County Children's Coalition