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SEP b �� BOOK 65P{,F 3. We need a massive educational campaign starting in the elementary grades.in school to properly educate and warn the young people against "crack" cocaine or the use of drugs. The speakers cited incidences where children as young as 7 years of age have been found to be addicts of "crack" cocaine. It is not too soon to start in the early grades in school to have an effective and continuous education program warning kids about experimenting at all with something as addictive as "crack" cocaine can be. Sheriff Lamar of Orange County recently did a survey of various people in his jail on drug related charges, and they found that the average cocaine habit costs about $500 a week to support; 37% of the people in that jail were addicted to cocaine either at that time, or at one time or another. 4. We need more, and more effective rehabilitation centers for those who are already addicted to help them get rid of the habit and bring them back into society as productive people rather than as dangerous drug addicts. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement pointed out that they felt one of the most important ways to stop this problem is to stop the demand. -As long as there is a demand for anything, someone will find a way of meeting that demand. Because of the lack of adequate rehabilitation space, some hospitals are experiencing a 120 day waiting list for admitting drug addicts to their program. It is easy to see there is potential danger running around the community when someone who is a known drug addict has to wait 120 days to be admitted to a hospital to start receiving help. Some of the State Attorneys spoke for tougher sentencing guidelines for judges to follow. They feel the Legislature needs to -.address this. Sheriff Dobeck was asked what he intended to do in dealing more strongly with the problem in Indian River County, and he said he was going before the County Commission next week asking for 6 additional people to concentrate primarily on the "crack" cocaine problem in Indian River County. He also mentioned that he felt school resource officers would be helpful in educating the -_ children in.the schools. One of the most impressive speakers was a young man named David Skinner from Stuart, Florida. He was a clean looking man whose parents are both in the school system in Martin County. He was President of his Junior class when he became an addict on "crack" cocaine. He is now on a treatment program, and apparently has kicked the habit. He is now lecturing to adults and young people on the problem. He made some excellent points as far as parent-child relationships in a drug situation. He said parents shouldn't confuse trust and love. He felt that because his parents loved him, they just automatically trusted him. Parents should be very conscious about where their children go, who their friends are, what their habits are, and be aware of any symptoms or signs that might lead them to believe that their child might be getting involved with drugs. Parents must know the tell-tale signs of drugs usage, and watch for them in their own children and in the children of friends and others. If a symposium is held in Indian River County, I would like to. ask David to come here and speak. I came back highly motivated. We need to face the reality of the serious drug problem in Indian River County. We should try to bring all the various individuals and organizations together" to see what kind of plan we can come up with to try and eliminate 46 M