LAW ENFORCERS TEACH STUDENTS ABOUT PERILS OF ILLEGAL DRUGS

HOUMA -- Fifteen hundred students, all of the parish's public school
seventh-graders and some from area parochial schools, crowded into the
Houma-Terrebonne Civic Center Thursday morning for a talk on the evils
of illegal drugs.

Many of the students saw the outing as reprieve from schoolwork and as
an excuse to cut up with their friends.

But the throng of giggling teen-agers instantly sobered up when 10
chained prisoners were escorted out of a police van and paraded across
the Civic Center a few feet away from where they sat.

Several of the inmates shared the story of how they wound up wearing
prison jumpsuits at an anti-drug rally, held each year by Terrebonne
Parish law-enforcement agencies.

"How many of y'all remember what y'all remember what you were doing
during Christmas break in the fourth grade," a shackled Riley
Stevenson asked the teens.

The Houma man, who is serving a 5-year jail sentence for growing
marijuana told the stunned kids that he had been in jail since then
and would continue to be behind bars for another year.

While they spent time with their friends and celebrated holidays with
their families, Stevenson told them he would remain in a stark jail
cell.

"Y'all have a chance to make decisions now that will affect you for
the rest of your lives," Stevenson said. "Make the right ones."

Many of the students, including 15-year-old Holly Legnon, took his
message to heart.

"I know some people who do drugs, and I've had it offered to me
before," she said, "but to watch the prisoners when they walked across
the room. ."

Legnon, daughter of Roxanne and Karl Legnon, stumbled for words to
explain how the sight made her feel but had no trouble explaining the
outcome.

She said the rally convinced her that her decision to stay away from
illegal drugs was the right one.

Legnon said she was also inspired to share the message she heard
Thursday with friends who may be headed down the wrong track.

The prisoner's frank talk was driven home by reenactments of a mock
party and subsequent drug raid that landed a handful of pretend
students behind bars.

The event also included reenactments of what happens when someone
drives under the influence of alcohol and what goes on in the parish's
courtrooms.

The play focused on how the students' actions affected their families,
derailed the futures they had planned and left them with financial and
drug problems.

Terrebonne Parish Sheriff's Office and District Attorney employees
acted out the parts, along with members of the Houma Police
Department, Louisiana State Police and state district judges.

Houma Police Chief Pat Boudreaux told the students they would be wise
to heed the advice doled out by prisoners who spoke during the
presentation.

"If you touch a hot stove, it's going to burn you," he said. "These
guys are telling you if you mess with drugs, it's going to ruin your
life."

Terrebonne Parish Jerry Larpenter and District Attorney Joe Waitz Jr.
told the students that they were brought to the play, not for
entertainment, but so they could see with their own eyes how one bad
decision could ruin their lives forever.

"One day," Waitz said, "you'll be faced with a decision and it's up to
you to decide whether you're going to take the wrong path or the right
one. I hope you'll chose the right one."