RED RIBBON' BRINGS ATTENTION TO A GROWING PROBLEM

Red ribbons have lined local elementary and high schools for two
weeks. They are there because 20 years ago Drug Enforcement
Administration Agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena was tortured and killed
in Mexico while investigating a drug cartel. It is in his memory - and
his belief that one person can make a difference - that families,
communities, schools and the PTA have supported the Red Ribbon Week
philosophy.

La Canada elementary schools recognized the week from Oct. 17
through 21 while La Canada High School and Glendale Unified School
District schools observed Red Ribbon Week Oct. 24 through Oct. 28.
Residents in the western area of La Canada attend GUSD schools.

During Red Ribbon Week teachers and administrators speak to students
about drugs, their dangers and how to make the right choices. La
Canada and the Crescenta Valley are relatively safe communities,
said Crescenta Valley Sheriff deputy Todd Sams. Schools have high test
scores, and there is a lot of parent involvement.

Even though it may seem idealistic, there is still a quiet world not
seen by many. Occasionally parents get a glimpse of a darker reality,
such as recent incidents at Rosemont Middle and Crescenta Valley High
schools when students brought drugs to schools and were suspended.
Rosemont principal Sally Buckley stressed at meetings with students
and parents that the new drug of choice is methamphetamine, the drug
Rosemont students used in a school bathroom.

"If you think it can't happen here, it can," Sams said. He and his
partner, Scott Shinagawa, work the night shift in Crescenta Valley.

Sams, Shinagawa and Deputy Ed Perez, who is assigned to patrol the
streets of La Canada at night, look for suspicious activity when the
sun has set.

During Tuesday night's shift, partners Sams and Shinagawa noticed a
car parked on the street. It wasn't unusual except for the
out-of-state license plates, which Sams called in to the station. He
found that it belonged to a woman he is familiar with, a woman who had
been out of the area for awhile. Sams and Shinagawa continued on,
keeping a watchful eye on the out-of-state car and waiting for its
owner to show up.

The deputies know every inch of their patrol areas. They know who has
been in trouble before and who to watch. There is a constant dance
between users and deputies. They catch some and watch others.

They spoke in a matter-of-fact way about the ones they assumed were
using drugs again. During one of the meetings at Rosemont, Sams told
parents that 93 percent of methamphetamine users who seek drug
rehabilitation go back to using the drug.

"The one thing that disturbs me about meth is how it relates to
girls," Sams said, remembering a young girl who they found at the
beginning of her meth use.

"She had pipes in her purse," he said, explaining that most meth users
smoke the drug for a quick rush. "To see her start out and how it
devastated her over time - she had hooked up with a man 40 years old.
She was 14 or 15. This drug makes them do things they never expected
they would ever do or that there parents thought they would be doing.
It devastates their lives," Sams said.

La Canada High principal Damon Dragos is trying to get the message
out about the choices and consequences students face. He spoke to La
Canada Elementary students during a red ribbon assembly last Friday.

"You have to remember three things," Dragos said to the students.
"Choices, decisions, and results." He told the young audience that
they are the ones who will be presented with a choice if and when
someone asks them to do drugs. They will then have to make a decision
to say no and walk away or to make the wrong choice. "Results, that is
what's left over when you make your choice and decision," Dragos explained.

He stated that all students need to think about their choices and the
consequences. La Canada High School had a series of choice units to
discuss during Red Ribbon Week along with anti-drug programs during
lunch.

"We are really trying to be more assertive. We want to be pro-active,"
Dragos said. To that end he and fellow administrators are on the
campus, letting their presence be known not as baby-sitters but as
someone that their students can feel free to talk to about any
problem. "We are being diligent at this, we are supporting the entire
child," Dragos said.

Crescenta Valley High School is also supporting the entire child by
talking to them through a peer. During Red Ribbon Week CVHS's project
success councilor Kathleen Keck has three ways that she is trying to
reach out to students. First is through a question contest. Every day
there is a new question in the school's bulletin concerning drugs and
alcohol. The class that answers the question correctly first wins a
Halloween treat. Another outreach is through writing. Keck has given
the students a red piece of paper representing a brick. They are to
write, anonymously, some negative experience about drugs and alcohol.
It can be an incident with a friend or family member, not necessarily
the student's personal experience. Also, Keck is reaching out to the
students through a young girl who is going through drug recovery.
Because she is a minor her name is not being released, however she did
answer questions during an interview concerning her drug use and
recovery. Keck admits that it took a great deal of courage for the
teen to face fellow students and speak of her addiction. To the girl,
speaking out will help others see that meth is a very addictive drug.

"I was drinking at seven," said the teen. She went from alcohol to
"weed" marijuana, and on to meth. "It was easy to get." She speaks of
a drug culture where dealers are not ever turned in and for the most
part not ever seen. She would go to a designated waiting area, give
some kid on a bicycle her money, and wait for the drug to come to her.

"I overdosed three times, lost friends, lost trust, had to lie to
everyone," the teen said. "I would randomly black out and couldn't
eat. I went down to 85, 87 pounds."

She is in recovery now. Keck adds that students don't seem to
understand what meth is, or what the use of alcohol and drugs can
actually do. Having this young girl speak to others her age will bring
a reality to the problem, Keck said.

Sheriff deputies who face the growing reality of meth in this
community have some advise for parents. They stress that for the most
part this community is safe but parents need to be aware that meth is
a problem in even the safest areas.

"Know your kids," Shinagawa stresses. "Talking to your kids is
crucial." He talks to his teenage daughter about the things that he
sees, sometimes leaving out the "gory" details and sometimes adding
them in to stress how dangerous drugs can be.

"People think they can use it once and walk away," Sams said. "Meth is
a drug that won't allow you to do that."