COMMUNITY MEMBERS DISCUSS DRUG PREVENTION IN INFORMATIONAL MEETING

Illicit drugs aren't dangerous because they're illegal; they're
illegal because they are dangerous, a federal Drug Enforcement
Administration official said Thursday.

Special Agent James Holland was addressing the Blount County Community
Health Initiative Substance Abuse Prevention Action Team. He spoke at
the Confronting Addiction program at the Martin Luther King Jr.
Community Center in Alcoa.

If unchecked, addiction can be a one-way path to personal destruction.
Ironically, the addiction that ensnares individuals who use illicit
drugs often doesn't affect the high-level dealers, according to Holland.

"Most of the guys on the higher levels aren't necessarily addicted to
the drugs they're dealing," he said.

Of the 250 million people living in the United States, 19.5 million,
or 8.3 percent, have tried illicit drugs, according to statistics
cited by Holland. In 2003, 2.7 million pounds of marijuana and 254,000
pounds of cocaine were seized nationally.

Anthony Dunnings, MLK Community Center director, said Thursday's event
was an opportunity for community people to get information to address
issues.

"A lot of times people just don't know where to go to get help,"
Dunnings said.

Laura Harrell, director of outreach at Blount Memorial Hospital, said
the Blount County Community Health Initiative was formed in 1997 at
the request at the state Department of Health.

"It's a grass roots effort for people to have a say about health
issues in the community," she said.

Each county was required to complete a diagnostic survey to determine
which health issues need to be addressed. One of those issues was
substance abuse, so a substance abuse prevention action team was formed.

The other six action teams in the community deal with suicide, mental
health, violence and abuse, physical activity and obesity, teen
pregnancy and environmental health.

"It's a family issue, an individual issue and a community issue,"
Harrell said.

This was the first such event in Blount County, and Harrell said she
was glad to see the room at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community
Center filled with participants.

The Blount County Community Health Initiative meets at 8 a.m. on the
second Wednesday each month at the Blount County Chamber Partnership,
South Washington Street, Maryville.

The Substance Abuse Prevention Action Team meets at noon on the second
Wednesday of each month at the Martin Luther King Jr. Community
Center, East Franklin Street, Alcoa.