Drug and Alcohol Awareness: The Value of Making the Right Choices

With twenty-five years of law enforcement expertise and ten years of experience in the social services arena, Kress & Associates recognizes society’s difficulty with drug and alcohol addiction recovery programming. Addict recovery programming is reactionary, not proactive. Statistics from the Department of Justice show that eight out of ten crimes committed are drug and alcohol related, and 51% of high school seniors reported using illegal drugs. We are unsuccessful in preventing substance usage among our youth.

When 100 million Americans age 12 and older report having used illicit drugs, we must make a change. This proposal contains statistical data from the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics, the Pennsylvania Department of Corrections, and the Department of Education. The data clearly demonstrates the enormous task before us to proactively modify the conduct of our youth.

Kress & Associates has been providing an educational program to schools in the Western Pennsylvania area. "Drug and Alcohol Awareness: The Value of Making the Right Choices" has been educating all levels of secondary school students as to the damage drugs and alcohol can have on a person’s life and one’s family. This program has been presented to seventh through 12th grades. The impact the program has on students is vividly expressed in drug use admissions of students at the presentations and afterward, then amplified by endorsement letters and accolades from School Principals, Assistant Principals, School Counselors, School Nurses, Teachers, School Resource Officers and most importantly the students themselves.

Erie Police Lieutenant Joseph M. Kress is a decorated police officer earning numerous Awards and Commendations. He worked in and supervised the Erie Police Narcotics Unit for over ten years. Lt. Kress has been qualified eighty-five times as an expert in the field of drugs in Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court. He presents true-life experiences that begin with the murder of his brother by a drug addict during a robbery attempt.

During each presentation, when the question is asked, "How many students know someone who either uses or sells drugs in this school?", every hand is raised. Lt. Kress also shares how, during a drug raid, he was shot by a drug dealer and narrowly escaped death for what he believes in.

Alongside Lt. Kress, a young prison inmate shares how drugs and alcohol started him on a road of destruction at the age of fifteen. Alcohol was the vehicle that helped an A student become a high school dropout, a seventeen-year-old father, an alcoholic, a marijuana addict, cocaine user, and a gun-toting drug dealer by the age of seventeen. At the age of eighteen, he was arrested for a felony assault, prosecuted, and incarcerated.

Finally, a career criminal shares his experiences and the lifestyle that led him to spending years behind bars. Prior to making changes in his life, the former convict makes it clear how drugs and alcohol played a part in his criminal career.

At the conclusion of the presentation, numerous students have tearful eyes. This thought-provoking presentation invites students to ask questions of the presenters. Every school Administrator has been impressed how this presentation is the talk of the school for days afterward.

Each school will be provided the opportunity to have a reminder sign stating "Make the Right Choice Today" installed on school property in a strategic location after the presentation.

Kress & Associates can present the program to one thousand eighty-nine (1,089) secondary students for the cost of incarcerating one (1) prisoner for a period of one year. For the same cost of incarcerating ninety-one (91) individuals for a period of one year, this program can be presented to 100,000 secondary students. It is time to be proactive in our priorities.