C-H students learn risks, dangers of drugs
Phillip Little talks to Chartiers-Houston junior high school students Thursday about the dangers of drug use during an assembly.
Katie Roupe/Observer-Reporter Phillip Little talks to the Chartiers-Houston junior high school students about the dangers of drug use during an assembly on Thursday, January 7. Little emphasized that drugs can be dream killers, leading students away from pursuing their career dreams.
When Phillip Little asked Chartiers-Houston Middle School students what they wanted to be when they grew up, several hands shot up.
A nurse, said one student. A professional barrel racer, said another. Others aspire to be a director, a journalist, an engineer.
But Little, the education and outreach specialist with the state attorney general’s office who conducted a drug abuse awareness presentation Thursday, warned the middle-schoolers taking drugs could ruin their plans and dreams.
“You can all achieve what you want to do, but if you involve (drugs) in your life, you’re going to run the risk of losing all of those dreams you just talked about,” said Little.
The drug abuse awareness program was the first of four presentations that will be held at local middle schools over the next month.
Little will visit Washington Junior High and Trinity Middle School Jan. 28 and Canon-McMillan Middle School Jan. 29.
The presentations are sponsored by state Rep. Brandon P. Neuman, D-North Strabane, who said his goal is to focus on preventing drug use.
Prescription drug abuse, which can lead to heroin addiction, is a growing problem.
Since studies show the age of first use of alcohol and drugs is getting younger, targeting middle school students is important, Neuman said.
“The best way to prevent addiction is for it never to happen in the first place,” said Neuman.
Students viewed a video of a teenage boy who began drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana when he was 14 years old, and then began abusing prescription drugs a doctor prescribed for him after he was involved in a car accident.
He eventually started using heroin.
“I call addiction an EOD, and equal opportunity destroyer,” said Little. “Addiction can take everything from you. It can destroy your life.”
Little told students the United States makes up 5 percent of the world’s population, but Americans consume 80 percent of the world’s supply of prescription opioids.
“Approximately 3 in 10 teenagers think prescription drugs are not addictive,” said Little during the 45-minute presentation, pointing out they are, in fact, addictive, and responsible for more deaths every year than any other drug.
During a question-and-answer session, several students asked Little questions, including how someone dies from a heroin overdose.
Little encouraged the students to talk to a parent, teacher, guidance counselor or a trusted adult if they have questions about drug abuse.