Many don't consider the work of a commissioner to have anything to do with drugs and think this should be left to an enforcement issue. After only a few weeks into office, I believed I was supposed to organize our community and host a Drug Summit to try to educate our parents about the drugs in our community and the signs to watch for. Later when I started serving on the finance committee and I realized how much of our budget goes to dealing with the aftermath of drug usage, I knew I needed to do more in the area of prevention, especially when I read a person in recovery can be sober for 5 years and still have a 20% chance in going back. With the Sheriff's office, we formed the CHAMP's program for the elementary schools and the TIP program for kids just beginning to get in trouble. Our Drug Awareness Council was formed and meets the first Wednesday of every month at 8 am at the United Way building on Elm Street. Everyone is welcome to attend. We were able to assist the Sheriff in putting Narcan (Naloxone) with each deputy as an antidote to a Heroin overdose. It has saved many lives. But now I watch this video and realize, we are having problems being able to keep up with the drug manufacturers. We still have so much work to do. We strive to find more and more ways to get the truth about drugs in front of parents and children and to find real solutions for their "need" to medicate themselves. It's such a scary thing and we need the entire community to help in this battle by educating your kids, keeping your own medication/alcohol out of their sight and away from their hands, and to please pray for the safety and well-being of our youth and our community. Together we can make a difference, one life at a time.
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