County wants parents and teens to get real about drugs

By Frances Ruth Harris
MILFORD — A peer pressure scene, an arrest scene, an overdose scene, a jail scene, an emergency room scene, a funeral scene.
Sound like a bad day? It should. Pike County wants parents and their children to know what it's really like to lead the life of an addict, with no grim detail spared. They'll then get to talk to a recovering addict and a local law enforcement officer for more perspective.
It's all part of the Reality Tour, to be held from 5:45 to 8 p.m. on two Thursday evenings, April 28 and May 19. Participants should arrive promptly at the Milford Bible Church, 110 Foxcroft Drive, Milford, where they will watch a prevention DVD. They will leave with an exit package filled with drug prevention resources.
The Reality Tour is designed for students ages 10 to 18 to attend with their parents or guardians. The cost is $5 per family.
Call Jill Gamboni at 570-390-9102 or email her at jillgamboni@yahoo.com for additional information.
The tour is run by volunteers with support from the Pike County Commissioners, the District Attorney's office, the Coroner's office, the Shohola Police Department, the Milford Fire Department, the Delaware Township Volunteer Fire Department, ADAPT, Pike County Teen and Family Resource, GAIT Therapeutic Riding Center, Delaware Valley School District, Milford Bible Church and many others.
Sponsors are Barracudas at Birchwood Lakes; Weinstein and Zimmerman, Attorneys at Law; and Dave and Mary Ann Ruby.

Another "make it real" program is the Prevention Mock Bedroom, be held from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Thursday, May 5, at 111 East Catharine St. in Milford. This time it's parents alone who will get the real-deal message about teens and drugs.
The interactive mock bedroom is set up to look like a typical teenager's bedroom. Parents will learn about commonly used drugs and paraphernalia, and the different methods used to conceal them.
Prevention specialists will discuss common drug trends and how to access treatment services. Catholic Social Services in Pike County lists amphetamines, beer, cocaine, crack, heroin, liquor, marijuana, opiates, oxycontin, perocet and percodan, viodean, wine, and Xanax as drugs of choice.
No registration is required. Come with questions and learn the latest about teens and drugs.
The Atlantic Behavioral Health Office and Carbon-Monroe-Pike Drug and Alcohol Commission are sponsoring the Prevention Mock Bedroom.
For more information call Rob Mikulski at 570-421-1960 ext. 2720 or email him at Mikulski@cmpda.cog.pa.us.
In a related development at the county commissioners' meeting, officials said they were trying for a grant that will help the county treat nonviolent drug and alcohol offenders and keep them out of jail.
It costs $82 a day to keep a prisoner in jail. If the grant is approved, the county will hire a new probation officer.
The county will save real money if non-violent drug and alcohol offenders can work and remain at home with their families while in treatment and recovery. The cooperative goal of the grant means working with the prison board. The idea is to help offenders resume lives as productive citizens even during treatment.
An additional $35,000 will come from the county as part of the grant's stipulations.
The commissioners stressed that the program is not a drug court.