With all the drugs on the streets and the easy access teens have to narcotics these days, local experts said it's more important than ever for parents to take an active role in teaching kids the dangers of illegal drugs.
Trumbull County Coroner Dr. Humphrey Germaniuk said parents can no longer sit back and say it won't happen to "my child."
"Basically it doesn't matter what you are doing in school. The drug problem, the drug overdoses, can strike kids who have a D-average and you can also find an A+ honor student with a drug problem," Germaniuk said.
And drug agents said, more often than not, they are finding juveniles, often from the suburbs, in the drug houses when they conduct raids.
Health and law enforcement officials said parents need to be looking in their child's room and monitor who they hang out with.
"Some of the first things parents should look for is any change in behavior," Germaniuk said. "If a normally good student's work starts to drop, they may have a drug problem."
Some parents may have been relying on the schools and local police to talk to their children about drugs, but due to financial constraints, many local communities have had to cut drug education programs such as DARE.
It's been ten years since Warren City's DARE program has been in operation.
However, with the huge increase of drugs moving to the suburbs, some local communities like Vienna Township felt the need to bring the DARE program back.
"I think working with the junior high kids helps them get to know the officer, and that helps the program and with curbing the use of drugs," said Vienna Township Trustee Jeff Dreves.
The Vienna DARE program started earlier this month, and the township's part-time officer Michael Edwards will now be in the schools at least once a month speaking to students about narcotics.
