THE DEATH OF DANIELLE HEIRD

"Oh for God's sake Megan, what were you thinking? You don't know what you
took, you don't know who gave it to you? All right, please, just stay where
you are and I'll pick you up ..."

Sooner or later you may have to have a talk with your teenager about the
dangers of a drug called Ecstasy.

"What do you mean you don't know where you are?!"

We recommend sooner.

The above radio commercial features a frantic mother talking to her
incapacitated daughter. Finally, "E," as Ecstasy is commonly known, has
come to the attention of Partnership for a Drug-Free America. Millions of
young adults who watch television or listen to the radio have become
familiar with this organization.

First, we were bombarded with scrambling eggs and the slogan, "This is your
brain on drugs ... any questions?" For cool teens taking drugs, the
commercial got old fast.

Partnership for a Drug-Free America has since moved on to a new series of
commercials featuring the theme, "Parents: the Anti-Drug."

"You are miserable parents ... you invaded my privacy ... I thought you
were the worst parents in the world... thanks."

Ask: Who? What? Where? When? ... Parents: the Anti-Drug.

I cannot begin to imagine what the makers of this series of commercials
were thinking when they came up with the idea. I assume they tried to
compare the drug use of kids who have dead-beat parents to the drug use of
kids who have closer relationships with their parents.

And they obviously decided the best idea was to promote propaganda telling
parents that their kids appreciate controlling behavior and constant
interrogation.

Unfortunately, Partnership for a Drug-Free America seriously underestimated
the 1990s and the 21st century.

Instead of the parent police, it has become increasingly important for
children to form close relationships with their parents at a young age --
so they can understand right from wrong and how drug abuse is serious and
potentially fatal. If parents successfully instill a sense of conscience
and good intuition in their children, they can trust them to make the right
decisions.

Despite my personal opinions about this particular series of "Anti-Drug"
ads, the new sequences concerning Ecstasy have been unbelievably moving and
are probably the best ads of persuasion I have ever seen.

Most of them focus on 21-year-old, Danielle Heird, a girl I will describe
for you using three words: beautiful, inspiring and dead. The latter
occurred after she took two "E" pills; her boyfriend found her the
following morning, July 20, 2000.

I want to run you through two television commercials that Partnership for a
Drug-Free America will be running soon; they are simple but potent.

The first features the autopsy report of Danielle Heird, as the medical
examiner notes the conditions and weights of her organs. The commercial
ends with him almost shouting, "The only drug present in her system was
Ecstasy."

"E" is a drug many college students see as just a high in a pill, and
statistically, deaths like Danielle's are relatively rare. But the danger
is still apparent, and college students especially should know that a good
high is not even remotely worth risking one's life.

The next commercial: "I would have given anything for some warning signs. I
would have moved. I would have locked her up. I don't care ... If there
were warning signs; I would have done whatever it took. I was never given
that opportunity ... A parent's not supposed to survive their children.
It's not the scheme of things."

These are the words of Jim Heird, Danielle's father. The commercial lasts
30 seconds, but most of the time is occupied by the soft weeping of a
father who has lost his daughter.

I watched this last commercial four times on Sunday night and cried each
time. I've seen death and have watched stories of death more times than I
can count, but watching a father cry so helplessly over the loss of his
child is beyond emotional.

Partnership for a Drug-Free America is in fact targeting parents with these
commercials, parents who believe their children would never use drugs.

Perhaps unintentionally, they have succeeded in touching at least one
child, one who is neither a parent nor a drug user. I can really only ask
people to ask themselves whether the risk is worthwhile, whether the
temporary high is worth the rest of your life and your family's permanent pain.

Perhaps you can answer that question for yourself by watching Jim Heird, a
grown man and a father who just can't stop crying.