Pride in my county

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Recently, I had the pleasure of attending a drug program at Opp Middle School to take pictures and write an article for the Opp News. For those of you who don’t know what the program was about, I’m going to give you the lowdown.

The Drug Task Force agents along with Andalusia and Opp Police Departments, the Covington County Sheriff’s Office, and a local business (whom I can’t name for political reasons, but I’m sure people will figure it out as I go on) were responsible for putting together Kids Against Prescription Pills (K.A.P.P.).

This program is such a great opportunity for DTF agents to go to county schools and talk to middle schoolers about prescription drug addiction.

The first location I went to yesterday afternoon was devoted to facts. Straight up, cold, hard facts about what prescription drugs can do to a person – emotionally and physically. The kids were able to answer questions about what DTF agent David Harrell spoke on during his part of the program.

The second location was for speakers, Connie Messick and Lori Rickett, who were able to give students a first hand account of drug addiction. Connie was tearful as she told students about stealing from her son’s bank account just to get her prescription drug fix. She told the kids that she could no longer be a nurse and she couldn’t drive – and those were just two things that were as a result of her addiction.

Local radio celebrity, Blaine Wilson and local attorney and former University of Alabama football player, Corey Bryan spoke at the last location. They pushed the fact that the kids could be like them and do well without having to resort to taking drugs to get a high. They could be high on life and be successful just like these two guys have been.

I’m just so proud that our schools are concerned about the problem of prescription drugs. Yes, there have been some problems here – actually one resulting in an arrest here in Opp if memory serves. I believe these kids heard the message that was being drilled home yesterday. Assistant Principal, Shawn Short told me that several of the kids had tears after hearing Connie and Lori speak about their lives.

I’m proud that there are people (who shall remain nameless) who will look out for the best interests of our children.

This person, who I cannot name has been instrumental in putting together several of the drug programs in this county. I know he will keep striving to do what is best for the good of Covington County as he runs for office.

1 comments:

Billy Wayne said...

did they actually tell those kids that they got "high on life"? if so, operation failed.

you see, the majority of them will probably remember this incident. they'll begin to wonder what "high on life" even means. and when they figure out that the adults who said this are blathering morons, radio personalities with the depth of your average mud puddle, they will in all likelihood reason to themselves, "guess this high on life thing isn't for me. pass the klonopin. i'll just be careful and won't get caught like that idiot nurse did."

And because this lesson was delivered in a public school, I'll go ahead and make the safe assumption that God was not mentioned nor even hinted at in the delivery. (At least, your blog post didn't mention anything of it.) Again, operation failed.

There is only one source of happiness. All else is illusion. Nothing other will do. It will bloom for a moment. But when the cold wind blows and the hot sun dries, it will wither and die.

I'll let the cynic in me speak for a second: the real reason your county is concerned with prescription drug abuse is because these people typically become an economic drain on the tax dollar.

Kind of like how government wasn't concerned with smoking until smokers began to age and then began costing more in healthcare than they brought in with taxes. They became an economic drain and at that point something just had to be done. The solution: raise cigarette taxes. Does it cause people to quit? No. But at least Uncle Sam gets more tax revenue.

Do they care that young people may become addicted to prescription drugs? Nope. They need to get "high on life" so they can be good tax-paying slaves.

Shoot, I'm surprised that GlaxoSmithKline hasn't sued you guys yet for defamation.

“We have a challenging and inspiring mission to improve the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer.”™

You see? Prescription drugs are good for you! Make you feel better.

Shame on you for saying otherwise. I mean, people can die from breathing too much air or drinking too much water. It's all in your perspective, you see. We just need you to see things from our perspective. I mean, we must be right. After all, look how rich we are! And when you're rich, you can get high on life!

So come on. Pass the klonopin. $20 for a 30 day supply at your local Wal-mart.