Students hear Red Ribbon Week anti-drug message with input from two former drug addicts, Sheriff Pohlmann and drug-free schools coordinator

Charles Cassar, left, drug-free schools coordinator for St. Bernard’s school system, discusses Red Ribbon Week and its anti-drug message as seniors from Chalmette High hold a red ribbon during a ceremony at Andrew Jackson Middle.

Cory Hicks, a minister and former drug addict and dealer, speaks to students at Andrew Jackson Middle.

A significant number of students at three St. Bernard Parish public schools got up at assemblies on Oct. 30 when they were asked to stand if their families or friends had been touched by drug or alcohol addiction.

The students at St. Bernard Middle, Andrew Jackson Middle and Trist Middle then paid attention as they got a lesson in making good choices in life, part of the school system’s annual anti-drug campaign known as Red Ribbon Week

Several speakers including former drug addicts minister Cory Hicks and Meraux native Robert Fezekas, Sheriff James Pohlmann and Drug-Free Schools Coordinator Charles Cassar told students their future is bright if they can avoid the pitfalls of crossing the line into drug use.
Also, as part of the ceremonies, numerous seniors from Chalmette High took part in the anti-drug event by holding a long red ribbon and taking turns discussing Red Ribbon Week and the perils of drug abuse.

Red Ribbon Week was originated in 1998, set up to honor the memory of Enrique “Kiki” Camerena, a U.S. Drug Enforcement agent murdered while assigned to investigate drug trafficking in Mexico near the U.S. border. He was kidnapped, tortured and killed.

Congress proclaimed the first Red Ribbon Week in honor of the agent and the cause he died for and some millions of people continue to participate in the event each year.

Cassar said the school system has celebrated Red Ribbon Week in October for some 25 years, in recognition of the importance “of trying to bring substance abuse awareness”” to students.

“This is done to put you in a position for success,’’ Cassar told students.

Students paid close attention to the story of Hicks, now a minister but who formerly served time in prison after getting hooked on drugs in high school and moving on to deal them.

Hicks, a former National Merit Scholar who went to prison for selling and using drugs, told students he wanted them to “invest in your future by not crossing the line’’ into drug abuse. “You are better than that,’’ Hicks said.

Sheriff Pohlmann told students that in his 32 years in law enforcement, “I have seen a lot of death and destruction caused by drugs and alcohol.’’

The sheriff said young people have to make the right decisions in life, including who they associate with.

“My jail is full of people who made bad decisions,’’ the sheriff said. “And some are lucky they are alive’’ after getting involved in drugs, which drove them to commit crimes resulting in their imprisonment.

The sheriff told students to realize not very many people come back from being hooked on drugs.

He also said drug use may start with marijuana and advance to prescription pill abuse and then further as people look for a bigger high. First, they steal from relatives, Sheriff Pohlmann said, to maintain their habits, then have to advance to burglary, theft or robbery for money and end up arrested and possibly incarcerated for long periods.

“We’re not trying to scare you but to educate you,’’ the sheriff said.

Sheriff Pohlmann also said he believes drug education should be taught in every grade level of school as a regular course.

Fezekas, who grew up in Meraux and attended Trist, told students he became hooked so bad on pills and then harder drugs, “I was praying to die’’ to end it. He said he was arrested in 2007.

He urged students not to “cross the line’’ into drug abuse but if they did they have to seek help to end the cycle.