Health class students at Poplarville High School are receiving intensive, firsthand education on drug and alcohol awareness from two valuable sources.
Pearl River County Sheriff’s Department Deputy Trent Boyd, and his wife, Cpl. Kristy Boyd, have been volunteering their time to lead drug and alcohol awareness presentations for Poplarville students.
Trent Boyd has years of experience as a DUI Officer and is considered a master field sobriety instructor, meaning that he is authorized to teach other officers how to administer field sobriety tests. He is also a drug recognition expert.
“We put a PowerPoint presentation together that explains the three different types of alcohol and how it is identified as a drug,” said Trent Boyd, “Alcohol is a central nervous system depressant.”
“It’s the most abused drug in America due to its widespread availability,” added Boyd.
The presentation that he and his wife give to students describes the effects of alcohol on the body and the brain.
In addition to the lecture on alcohol, the students are given an opportunity to see drugs firsthand.
“Kristy has access to narcotics training aids, which allows students to look at real cocaine, methamphetamine and marijuana,” said Trent Boyd, who added that the drugs they show to students are sealed in an evidence bag and weighed periodically at the crime lab to ensure that none goes missing.
Boyd said he explains to students how drug addicts end up “chasing the dragon,” a phrase that describes how drug users continue to pursue the euphoria they felt during the first high. Addicts will desperately seek to recreate the feeling of the initial high, but Boyd explained why this pursuit is so dangerous.
“The endorphins that have been stored inside someone’s body their whole life are released the first time a person gets high,” said Boyd, “It takes that same amount of time for those endorphins to build up again.”
Because of this “chase,” Boyd said some addicts end up stealing and doing whatever they can to continue to afford the drugs.
Pearl River County Sheriff David Allison expressed his gratitude to Trent and Kristy Boyd for the time they spent in the local schools and addressed the continuing need for drug and alcohol awareness.
“We’re all working to reach the children of the county so we can encourage them not to go down the drug path,” said Allison, “We cannot arrest ourselves out of the drug problem we have. The way to make a difference is to reach the children now.”
Allison said he was grateful to the school district for allowing the Sheriff’s Department to come into the schools and spend time with students.
“I would like to thank all the school officials for letting us talk to the youth in this county about choices they’re going to make in the near future that will affect them for the rest of their lives,” said Allison.
Boyd said that he and his wife gave two presentations during the last nine week period and have already given three presentations in the current nine weeks. He is trying to bring the presentation to Pearl River Central and Picayune schools as well.
“I really love teaching kids, and I hope we can reach some of them with this class,” said Boyd.