Drug Story teaches perils of drug use

By Staff
Jonathan Willis
Anne Marie Hall appeared to be scared and unaware of what was taking place Friday morning as she was handcuffed by a Russellville police officer.
High school officials had just found what they said to be methamphetamine in her possession moments before she began a whirlwind trip through the judicial process.
Hall, an honor student who stays out of trouble, was only depicting the part during a presentation of the Drug Story. Rather than being whisked away to jail, she was there instead to help show younger children the dangers and pitfalls of drug use.
The Russellville City Schools' Safe and Drug Free Schools program put the production on Friday morning at First Baptist Church. Safe and drug free schools counselor Nancy Cooper said that sixth graders from the system got to see what could happen to a teen that begins using drugs.
The Drug Story carries them from the time they first use drugs and are caught with them all the way through the final tragic ending that many drug stories have.
This is the fifth time the system has put on the performance. This year, the drug of choice involved methamphetamine.
"We are hearing more and more about problems with meth in our area, as well as across the state and nation," Cooper said. "(District) Judge Paula McDowell said that's the main drug of abuse that she sees in her courtroom."
The program focuses its attention on sixth graders because that is such an influential age.
"Research shows that sixth grade is a pivotal year in a child's development," Cooper said.
"It takes about 25 high school students and 25 volunteers from the community to do this," Cooper said. "It takes a community effort to do this."