Experts team up to reach youth about dangers of drug abuse

Rick Monroe

Special to the Village News

Whether speaking to a crowded high school auditorium of students or the single parent who attended a March 1 community meeting, Rockwell "Rocky" Herron has a clear message about the current threats of vaping, drinking and drug abuse. It's a life or death matter.

Fentanyl or another drug. Now, he's taking the message of the threat of these addictions to both schools and parents through a program of the San Diego County Office of Education.

The former agent of the DEA now calls himself an agent of change. He's done hundreds of DEA presentations throughout the U.S. and in 15 countries, but now with the county position, his focus is on San Diego County. He spoke at Fallbrook High school four years ago while with the DEA and plans to return more frequently.

Herron and a team of experts from other agencies were in Fallbrook on March 1-2 for several presentations: three assemblies at Fallbrook High School and two evening programs for parents. Ilsa Garza-Gonzalez, superintendent of the high school district, arranged the events.

"The presentations are in response to surveys and our Mano a Mano series," she said. "Our primary goal, as well as Rocky's, was to educate students on the dangers of drugs and have them think about the choices they make."

"For our parent workshops, our goal was to raise awareness and provide parents with tools for engaging their children in a conversation about drugs and drug use," she added.

Herron, known as the Alcohol and Other Drug Ambassador, didn't come alone. At the March 1 evening session, there were seven other presenters: Lt. Aldo Hernandez, commander of the Fallbrook Sheriff's Department Substation; Edith Sanchez Cruz, Community Inclusion Director, San Diego County Sheriff's Department; Kelly McKaye, DEA Community Outreach PIO; James Fontaine, County District Attorney's office; Cindy Cipriani, outreach director, office of the U.S. Attorney; Eddie Jones, fireman and president of the Fallbrook Union Elementary School District; and Garza-Gonzalez.

Hernandez and Fontaine joined him for the second parent presentation – done in Spanish – on March 2.

Attendance was low at both sessions, but Herron said that doesn't deter his interest. Speaking to parents, his goal is to stress the importance of clear communication and to start when their children are young – 8 to 10 years old.

"It's not a school problem, it's a community problem," he said in a post-presentation interview.

Garza-Grozalez agreed. "The drug issue is a societal issue," she said. "It is a community issue that affects our schools. There are students who are exposed to and are victims of drug abuse from the moment they are born. The students come to us in ninth grade, and I don't know what they have been exposed to prior to that time. I only know what they have been exposed to academically."

"If we can shift our thinking away from this being a school issue and approach it as a community issue, we will make more headway," she continued. "There is a reason why so many experts from outside of Fallbrook were here. They know that the issue of drugs is widespread."

The initial presentation to Fallbrook parents – spoken in English – on March 1 drew a crowd of one. However, the organizers turned it into a valuable discussion that the person attending, who wanted to be anonymous, said she would share with others.

The following night's event grew in number. "It was 700% better," Garza-Gonzalez said. Attendance was seven from the community.

"Our first goal was our students, and we scheduled the parent workshops around the availability for the student assemblies and not necessarily focused on the parent schedules," the superintendent said. "But it made a difference to that one parent, and that is how change begins."

She also noted that there were numerous other school activities on the days of the parent meetings.

The student crowds at FHS were much larger for the 90-minute presentations: 1,000 for grades 9-10, 800 for grades 11-12, and 300 for the ESL students in Spanish.

Herron said that for every 100 students, 10 don't need to hear the talk and 10 won't listen.

"It's the 80% in the middle who I want to reach," he said. "We live in a confused society, and I want to give them enough information for them to make a decision, and not be tempted by peer pressure."

Herron's presentation is all fact-based because he said students will check. He wants them to check because then they'll believe.

One thing he doesn't want students to believe is that 40% of illegal drugs are deadly. That is a serious claim by the DEA, but Heron's point is that all illegal drugs can be deadly, either immediately with an overdose or "mistake" or through addiction.

"The increase in deaths from Fentanyl is crazy," he said. "It's really the same chemical as heroin, but it's 50 times stronger. It's killing our kids."

For the past seven years, 100% of the fentanyl on the streets has been manufactured in Mexico, in both powder and pill form, and it's counterfeit, he said.

Law enforcement and treatment are failing, he said, so it's time for prevention.

One of the things the discussion group focused on was reaching younger kids, possibly through peer counseling.

"Given proper training and with established systems, peer mentoring programs are effective," Garza-Gonzalez said. "We have already seen results with our peer tutoring program so mentoring or peer to peer conflict resolution would be no different."

Communication is the key.

"I've seen people move to a really nice place like Fallbrook who believe they are moving to a safe place," Herron said. "They are from 'good' families but they don't prepare their kids to make informed decisions. You need to talk to them about the threat, even the high achievers and star athletes and student leaders."

Garza-Gonzalez noted that mental health issues needed to be looked at more closely.

"Students face anxiety and stress, and some self-medicate and it becomes an addiction," she said. "Regardless of race, socioeconomic status, gender or age, it can happen to us or to someone we know."

Herron said he was impressed with the Fallbrook administration because the superintendent, principal and vice principal sat through all three presentations. "It shows their commitment," he said.