JUDGE TELLS ABOUT BATTLE

GREENVILLE - A pained expression crossed W. Allen Pepper Jr.'s face
when he began to talk about how illegal drugs have dashed young lives
and ripped apart families.

As a U.S. District Court judge, the Bolivar County native has
witnessed firsthand from the bench what the substance abuse carnage
is doing to Mississippi and the nation.

He is disturbed by the trend that is weaving its evil way into the
human community fabric - wrapping its vile tentacles around our
impressionable young people.

"We should do whatever it takes to win this war, because there is no
alternative," Pepper said. "The enemy is now at the gates, and we
must do something."

But in America, there always seems to be a constant that is forever
presenting an oasis of hope, and believability. For a long time now,
the American Scouting movement has provided our adolescents with a
wholesome avenue for character-building and leadership.

It was those childhood Scouting experiences that prompted Pepper to
make a rare public speech, in fact the first one since being
appointed to the federal bench in 1999 by President Bill Clinton.

"It takes courage and conviction to be a Scout," Pepper said before
the annual fund-raiser dinner of the Washington District of the Boys
Scouts of America.

Many of you who are reading this column probably, at one time or
another, were involved with Scouting, as a youngster or adult
volunteer. I know I have taken the building blocks of Scouting with
me into adulthood.

Nonetheless, our young people continue to be romanced by the allure
of street life and illegal drugs. A study released last year by the
Partnership for a Drug Free Society indicated 11.3 million teenagers
admitted using illegal drugs. And marijuana remains the drug of
choice among teenagers.

And the drug abuse problem taking place in Mississippi Delta
communities only serves to mirror a more vexing social problem. It's
an issue that is not lost on Pepper, who calls illegal drugs a
silent, but deadly force impacting our nation.

Pepper talked about attending a concert last year in Memphis, and was
aghast when his son told him several stylishly dressed young adults
sitting a couple of rows ahead where using the so-called "club drug"
Ecstasy.

"It was right there in the open, and no one knew," he said. "They
just kept drinking bottled water and passing around Altoids."

What appeared to be high-priced breath mints were actually Ecstasy
tabs that they carried in the Altoids tins.

"I know that I am not the only naive one," Pepper continued, "because
a former U.S. attorney was sitting behind us, and he was just as
shocked as I was."

You see, the drug causes the body temperature to increase, which
requires a steady water supply.

Although there has been a concerted government response - even at one
time creating a so-called drug czar - to the illegal drug invasion
with varying degrees of success, Pepper, nevertheless, challenged the
audience to become more involved in parenting and mentoring children
and teenagers.

"Our young people are our tomorrow, and they belong to us for better
or worse," Pepper said. "Drugs and gangs exist in our communities
today, because the public has not been outraged."

Just where is the moral indignation? How long will you allow outside
impurities to continue to contaminate our youth?

Unless we stand as a collective, illegal substances will remain a
social scourge, and the blame will rest on our shoulders.