Pubdate: Tue, 01 May 2012 Source: Herald-Star (OH) Copyright: 2012 The Herald-Star Contact: http://www.hsconnect.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1268 Author: Warren Scott Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?135 (Drug Education) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?225 (Students - United States) BROOKE TEENS SHARE FACTS ABOUT DRUGS WELLSBURG - Members of Brooke High School's chapter of West Virginia National Youth Leadership Initiative on Monday attempted to tell their peers about the dangers of marijuana use in various ways, but it was a personal account from one of the group's members that illicited the most attention. The group is comprised of several students who have undergone training through conferences and web-based seminars held by the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America's National Youth Leadership Initiative to use various media to share with their peers information about the harmful effects of drug use. And at Monday's program, they used a PowerPoint presentation to share facts about marijuana use, a video they wrote, filmed and starred in that depicted marijuana users whose addiction led them to dire situations and composing photos symbolizing the effects of drug abuse. One of the group's members, Rachel Richard, was charged with the latter task, showing a tree struck by lightning, which she said is like a person addicted to drugs because the tree is dead inside and cannot grow. She also showed a photo of a group of people covering their faces with their hands. The image represented people who don't look like the individuals they once were and can't communicate with others in a meaningful way because they have become addicted, she said. It's a feeling she understands well, she said, because her father used marijuana and later, other drugs. She said her father's drug use led to her parents' divorce. Her father managed to remain a part of her life for a time but eventually stopped communicating with her, and she didn't understand why. She said she came to understand later, "The drugs made him incapable of loving us." When her mother went to his home to check on him, she found him alone in the dark, with no furniture around him. He told her he had lost hope of recovering from his addiction, the student said. Later, she and her family learned through a phone call that he had shot himself, she said. "My father is never going to see me graduate, never going to see me get married and never going to see me have a child," the girl told her classmates. "Marijuana is not a recreational drug. It's not something you play with," she said. In recent months, local law enforcement and court officials have teamed with Advocates for Substance Abuse Prevention to educate the public about a rise in the use of heroin, synthetic marijuana and narcotics marketed as bath salts. Kathi Moore, a guidance counselor advising the group, said marijuana was chosen as the group's focus because it's seen as a gateway to other drug use. At the beginning of the program, WVNYLI member Casey Johnson said 41 percent of 420 students surveyed by the group said they had used marijuana. Johnson asked his audience of peers why they thought marijuana use was at that level. They responded that it was relatively accessible, some think it's "cool," some are influence by peer pressure and some use it out of boredom or to feel better. "There's many things that can make you feel better. It shouldn't be a drug," said Rachel Richard, a member of the group. At several points in the program, the group received jeers from some of their audience. But members of the group said they weren't discouraged, and plan to present a similar program to pupils at Wellsburg and Follansbee middle schools next week. "I think that's most important because that's where it starts, and they are the next generation," said Jamie Albert, another member of the group. Jim Piccirillo, president of the Brooke County Board of Education, attended one of the programs and said, "It was very moving, and the best part of it was it was student-driven." Piccirillo said the Brooke County school district has a no-tolerance policy toward illegal drugs on school grounds and a large number of expulsions approved by the board in recent months have involved that. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom