STUDENTS EXPERIENCE DRUG THEATER

VISTA -- More than 600 students from Vista and Oceanside middle schools
participated in Red Ribbon Week by attending an interactive program at the
Vista Elks Lodge and it wasn't anything like they had ever seen before.

"This was crazy," said Ray Garcia, 11, a sixth grader from Lincoln Middle
School in Oceanside. "I thought this would be boring, but it was pretty
real. I know kids like this."

The "Drug Store" is an interactive four-day event concluding today that
targeted local sixth graders with a surprise message delivered uniquely
through a theatrical production.

The program was organized as a community-wide effort involving the Vista
Unified and Oceanside Unified school districts, South Coast Elks
Association, city of Vista and Vista Fire Department, San Diego County
Sheriff's Department, California National Guard, U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration, Eternal Hills Mortuary, San Diego County Probation
Department, Vista Superior Court judges and the Alpha Project.

While the Drug Store concept has been used elsewhere, the event at the Elks
Lodge was the first time it has been put on in North County, organizers
said.

Students, who may think they are attending just another drug presentation,
are confronted with a simulated drug tragedy. Student actors, real judges,
law enforcement officers, defense and district attorneys, trauma personnel,
treatment professionals and a funeral director act out the consequences when
a student steals and abuses drugs.

As the students stepped off the bus laughing and joking during a
presentation this week, they were taken to a simulated pharmacy set up in
the first of a series of tents. The students viewed an assortment of drugs
and listened to a lecture. But in the middle, things took a surprising turn.

The audience is informed a sample of rock cocaine was stolen by one of the
students, an actor planted in the group.

As more officers arrived and the atmosphere became charged, the students'
eyes grew wide and many shrank from the proceedings as the suspected girl
student was placed in handcuffs and frisked. The students were then told the
suspect made a wrong choice and would have to pay the price.

"I was really surprised when all that happened," said Brianna Woolf, 10, who
attends Roosevelt Middle School, one of Vista Unified's schools in
Oceanside. "I think this will make a big impression on a lot of kids. It
made an impression on me."

Thereafter, the students went from tent to tent, following the legal process
as the actor was booked into jail, taken to court, sentenced to probation
and placed in a drug-education class. Following the class, the students
follow the actor to party, where she has an unfortunate experience mixing
drugs and alcohol. The actor then is viewed in a hospital tent where a staff
of real emergency personnel tried to save her. Seeing the child being
covered by a sheet brought tears to some of the parents in the audience.

"I came along today to see what my child would be seeing," said Bettina
Munoz, 44, of Oceanside. "This is a good program, but for a parent it seems
too real. I don't know if the kids know what kind of impact this would have
on a parent."

The final scene took place at the student's funeral and eulogy with an open
casket containing a mirror. When the audience members looked in, they saw
their own reflection.

For Ashley Castrellon, a seventh grader at Lincoln Middle School in Vista
who played a victim in the presentations, the program was emotional.

"It was interesting playing this person, but I'm really glad I didn't end up
in the casket," she said. "It started out fun, but it got a little scary at
times. I know people think this is funny and stuff but I'm pretty sure they
got the message."