Pubdate: Sat, 27 May 2000
Source: Daily Press (VA)
Copyright: 2000 The Daily Press
Contact:  http://www.dailypress.com/
Author: Regina Lightfoot

SUFFOLK YOUTH LEARN PITFALLS OF DRUGS, ALCOHOL USE

SUFFOLK - Suffolk students were schooled in the dangers of and laws 
governing drugs, alcohol and tobacco at an all-schools forum Thursday.

About 150 students representing Suffolk's public and private schools 
attended the second annual meeting at Bennett's Creek Park.

Law enforcement officers explained to them how sniffing products such as 
glue, correction fluid and powdered drink mixes, as well as underage 
drinking and smoking, can harm them.

"Have you heard of huffing?" Suffolk police officer Chuck Terrell asked the 
students. Some acknowledged with a mumble that they had.

"Does anyone here have a friend who sniffs or inhales anything at all?" A 
student told Terrell she knows a girl who sniffs powdered Kool-Aid, while a 
boy said a friend sniffs glue.

"When you inhale up the nose, it's like sandpaper," Terrell said of 
snorting substances such as a powdered drink mix. "When you inhale 
something it goes directly to the brain in seven seconds," he said. He 
urged the students not to be pressured into trying inhaling just to be cool.

"Inhaling is a quick way to die."

After the lesson on inhaling, John Hughes -- an Alcoholic Beverage Control 
agent -- told them that what seems like a small breach of the law can land 
them in big trouble.

For instance, using a fake identification card to buy alcohol is a federal 
violation that's investigated by the FBI. "It goes in your FBI record, and 
whatever you want to do, like go into the military, it stays with you."

Hughes also told the students -- who ranged from fourth-graders to high 
school seniors -- that underage drinking can result in the loss of driving 
privileges, fines and jail.

"If you decide you want to party, be prepared for the consequences," he said.

The forum grew out of a desire to extend what students learned in the 
classroom.

"You can't give them enough education about drugs, alcohol and tobacco," 
said Monette Harrell, the director of guidance for Nansemond-Suffolk 
Academy's lower school. "I think they learn leadership skills at things 
like this."

Kevin Diggs, a 16-year-old sophomore at Nansemond River High School, said 
he knew a lot of the information, but he plans to pass it on.

"I would share it with my sisters and tell them the reasons why it's bad 
for them and if they do drugs what will happen to them," he said. Diggs 
will also take the knowledge he gained to a youth alcohol and drug 
prevention conference he will attend this summer.

Thursday's event was sponsored by the Suffolk Substance Abuse and Youth 
Council.

Regina Lightfoot can be reached at 247-4627 or by e-mail at  ---
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