Forum at Corbin High School focuses on use of drugs, legal and illegal

Elissa Price, of Operation UNITE, held up educational materials put together by the group during a forum on drugs at Corbin High School Monday night.

Parents, members of the community, and even a few children came to Corbin High School Monday night to get an education.

The teachers were Karen Kelly and Elissa Price of Operation UNITE. The subject was a laundry list of the drugs, legal and illegal, and other substances individuals are using to get high.

During the course of the two-hour program, the women described the nicknames of each of the particular drugs, the signs that someone is under the influence of that particular drug, the health risks and even how it is used and what makes someone want to use it.

"They hit a home run," said Michelle Jones, who came to the program along with her daughter, Mashaela, a student at Corbin Middle School. "The program was very informative from what drugs are on the street to what drugs are next to hit our community and our children."

Incense and potpourri, also known as synthetic marijuana and bath salts, also known as synthetic cocaine are the latest craze in the drug market.

Price noted celebrities, including Charlie Sheen and Demi Moore, have reportedly been involved with the cocaine and marijuana, recently, with both ending up at the hospital.

Kelly noted besides the affect of the drugs, the draw is that they are readily available, not from the corner drug dealer, but from the corner market.

She talked about the recent robbery at Dream World Adult Store in Knox County where the robber took cash and as much synthetic marijuana as he could get.

The synthetic marijuana, which was developed by a doctor at Clemson University to help cancer patients, but has never been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, is sold under such names as Scooby Snax, Kush Pink, Head Trip, Wig Splitter, Kimax, Kush and Red Rum.

Price added that these drugs are being made in China, Korea and South Africa and can easily be found on the Internet.

The difficulty in banning the substances is that once the ban is in place, the makers make one small change to the ingredients and are able to get around such bans The women applauded local government agencies for their efforts to ban the chemicals that are most prevalent in these synthetic drugs.

The Laurel County Fiscal Court recently passed a ban.

Corbin Mayor Willard McBurney said the Corbin City Commission will vote on the first reading of its ordinance Monday night.

The Whitley County Fiscal Court and Williamsburg City Council are working on similar ordinances.

Kelly said one of the keys to stopping children before they start using drugs, is parents being parents.

Using her own daughter as an example, who is a student at Corbin High School, Kelly encouraged parents to talked repeatedly with their children about the dangers of drugs, keep children involved in various activities, know who their friends are and who their friend’s family is, where they are going and what they are doing with their friends. In addition, let them know what is expected of them and what the consequences will be if they do not meet those expectations, but also be quick to praise them when they meet or exceed expectations.

"You can say, ‘No!’" Kelly told the parents. "It is a complete sentence."

Kelly noted with her own daughter, she has driven through the movie theatre parking lot when she was supposed to be at the movies, gotten a sudden urge for a Blizzard when her daughter has said she was at Dairy Queen and regularly goes into her room, checks her cell phone to see who she has been talking too and has the password to her Facebook account.

In explaining how more and more parents are discovering that they have become what UNITE has termed "The Accidental Drug Dealer," meaning the children are getting the drugs right out of the medicine cabinet at home, Kelly said parents have the option of drug testing, adding that it may be in their best interest to spend $15 for a home test and give a "pop quiz" of their own.

"You can test," Kelly explained noting the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee to be free from illegal search and seizures does not apply to parents and children.

Corbin Board of Education Chair Kim Croley said she was pleased with the turnout. As a parent and a pharmacist, Croley said she was unaware how prevalent this problem had become and is happy that board is working to get this information out to the public. She added there are plans to present the program regularly to the public. In addition, all Corbin students in grades 5-12 will go through the program in a classroom format.