County trying to curb drugs and drinking

By Staff
Melissa Cason, Franklin County Times
Franklin County's law enforcement community, educators and parents joined together in an open forum Thursday night to discuss underage drinking.
District Attorney Joey Rushing served as the facilitator for the event that focused on how to keep teens from consuming alcohol.
"Studies have shown that underage drinking and smoking cigarettes leads to exploration of other drugs," Rushing told the audience.
The discussion of the topic brought about a general consensus that parents play a huge role in what their children do, and that most underage drinkers get their alcohol from their parents.
Law enforcement officials talked about the consequences for adults who serve alcohol to underage drinkers.
"Parents can potentially be held criminally responsible for their children's actions if they knowingly provide them with alcohol and disaster occurs," Circuit Judge Terry Dempsey said.
Several Red Bay High School students attended the meeting to shed some light on how drinking is perceived in high school.
"Most kids think it's a cool thing to come to school with a hangover, but if they want to spend their time over a toilet, that their thing," student John Campbell said.
While those who attended the meeting had a common goal, everyone recognized that the parents and students who needed the information the most were not present.
"We are preaching to the choir here," Red Bay Police Chief Pat Creel said.
In addition to the open discussion, the group tossed around ideas to bring more attention to the dangers of underage drinking. Ideas from mandatory parenting classes for parents of offenders to more education for the students were discussed a length.
"If we don't get the message out to the parents, we are going to lose our kids," Mike Franklin, Franklin County's DARE officer, said.