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�Reach kids where they need it the most� SODA marks anniversary with renewed fight against drug use By Jonel Aleccia In 1981, in Southern Oregon, drug use was not a topic for public conversation, recalls Judy Barr. Toma, drug czar will visit Southern Oregon Drug Awareness is marking the start of its 20th year with several events this week. The agency began in October 1981, but SODA executive director Stephanie Soares Pump said they�re celebrating at the beginning of the anniversary year to accommodate guest speakers David Toma and U.S. drug czar Gen. Barry McCaffrey. "The reason we�re doing it now is that Gen. McCaffrey is leaving office and David Toma is already 67 years old," Pump said. Anniversary events include the following: Community briefing/press conference with David Toma, 3:30 p.m. today at the Rogue Regency Inn, Medford. Young people, parents and community leaders will describe the local alcohol and drug abuse situation to Toma. Assembly for 4,000 Jackson County school children , 9:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Jackson County Exposition Park. McCaffrey is set to speak at 9:30 a.m.; Toma follows at 10 a.m. McCaffrey visits Washington Elementary School, 3:30 p.m. Tuesday. He�ll speak to staff and kids in the Kids Unlimited afterschool program. Anniversary celebration dinner , 6 p.m. Tuesday, Rogue Valley Country Club. McCaffrey and Toma will speak. SODA/FACT Community Breakfast , 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, Skyline Plaza, Medford. Toma will speak. School officials had not yet heard the words "Just Say No." Parents worried silently about booze, pot and pills. Teenagers who didn�t use drugs didn�t talk about those who did. Those who used were just happy to not get caught. "There was real denial about the issue," says Barr, one of the founding members of Southern Oregon Drug Awareness, a community anti-drug agency marking the start of its second decade. "No one had ever heard of trying to make a point about it." But Barr and other members of the local Junior Service League believed there was a point to be made. And Barr thought David Toma, a tough-talking cop she�d seen on TV�s "60 Minutes" was the guy to make it. "You just couldn�t forget him; he just rattled your cage," Barr recalls. "He was zeroing in on the idea of parents not knowing what was going on about drug use. You could not ignore him." So Barr called CBS and got the phone number of the man who inspired TV shows "Barretta" and "Toma." He agreed to make Medford one of the 200 stops in his annual national speaking tour. His fee was $5,000. It turned out to be worth every penny, Barr says. "You know what happened? Kids were dropping pot on the floor at the assembly. Kids were crying. We had to call in counselors. We were not prepared," she recalls. "It was the first time somebody was talking about what was really going on." That was 19 years ago. Toma�s appearance turned out to be the catalyst for nearly two decades of anti-drug efforts, says Barr, who sought support from former Medford schools superintendent Richard Slaven. "Richard said to us: What are you going to do when Toma leaves town?" she says. "That was the beginning of SODA." Since then, however, the agency has struggled with limited staffing, erratic funding and the continuing battle to reach young people. Drug and alcohol remains rampant among local teenagers. Nearly half of 11th graders use alcohol and more than a quarter use marijuana, a 1998 survey of local schools reported. Nearly 40 percent of eighth-graders use alcohol; nearly 17 percent use pot. Most local figures are consistently higher than state averages. "There is no problem that is more insidious," says Hank Collins, county health and human services director. "There is no issue that worries me more." But early organizers say SODA�s very longevity counts among its greatest successes. That�s especially true in a field where the average tenure of a community coalition is eight years. "It�s a miracle that they�re still here," says Judy Cushing, a founding SODA member who now directs Oregon Partnership, a social-service coalition in Portland. "Jackson County and the citizens of Medford do not have a clue about how respected SODA is nationally," she says. Among the agency�s most tangible accomplishments have been implementing drug-free workplace programs and educating kids through programs both within and after school, Cushing says. "We absolutely have to reach kids where they need it the most," she says. Reaching kids is the goal of appearances this week by Toma and Gen. Barry McCaffrey, retiring director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy in Washington, D.C. But Toma, now 67, will face a much tougher audience Tuesday than he did in 1981. This time around, his fee is $9,000 and even Barr says she was surprised to hear that SODA was bringing him back. "I said, �My God, is he still alive?" Barr said. "I don�t know how this is going to go. I think we�re talking to some pretty sophisticated kids." Brady Webb, coordinator of county prevention programs, admits that he hadn�t heard of Toma. At 30, Webb is too young to recall the TV shows modeled on the former New Jersey cop�s life. But Webb says Toma�s appearance before 4,000 schoolchildren will be just one salvo in the ongoing battle to raise awareness. "I hear he�s a very dynamic speaker and I�m looking forward to seeing what kind of momentum he can create in this valley," he says. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.