The Sage Publication is the student news site of Sage Creek High School in Carlsbad, CA

The Sage

The Sage Publication is the student news site of Sage Creek High School in Carlsbad, CA

The Sage

The Sage Publication is the student news site of Sage Creek High School in Carlsbad, CA

The Sage

DEA Agent Delivers the Hard Truth to Sage Creek Students

DEA+Agent+Rocky+Heron+speaks+to+a+receptive+student+body.
Reilly Cornwall
DEA Agent Rocky Heron speaks to a receptive student body.

An ocean of red filled the gym as students arrived for the Red Ribbon Week assembly on Wednesday.

Red Ribbon Week is a nationwide event helping the youth of America make good decisions about drugs. Active Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent, Rocky Herron, visited Sage Creek on Wednesday and spoke about the effects of drugs on youth.

“I’m trying to show kids what happens with too many people who think they can play with drugs, use drugs recreationally, and then stop,” Herron said. He debunked the common idea that many young adolescents have: “the ‘bad stuff’ that happens to other people using will not happen to me.”

He also noted that Red Ribbon Week is designed to help the youth make good decisions.

Senior Zachary Thurman believed Herron spoke intentionally and impacted many students.

“He touched on a lot of really important topics and … a lot of things connected with a lot of students and will be something that a lot of students remember,” Thurman said.

As the week came to a close, Herron hoped that he impacted the Sage Creek community.

“The only resolution is educating the kids of America to be smart, to respect themselves; respect their bodies; respect their future,” Herron concluded. 

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Comments (11)

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  • A

    Andrew CovielloNov 7, 2017 at 8:58 am

    Come on now, Donald. Don’t get upset. It’s just common knowledge that weed is only a weakener in the human body. Usually it tends to calm the mind and derationalize the thoughts, from what I’ve heard, but marijuana alone does not have such an intense effect as to kill you. Moreover, you can’t OD on it intentionally. You’d have to make a gigantic pipe or abuse mass quantities of it to overdose. THC is actually used to kill cancer, medicinally. Cannabis oil and cannabidol are beneficial to the body when used in a non-recreational practice. I don’t want to spoil your day, but sometimes the truth can hurt. Marijuana, alongside other drugs and a choice of dangerous activity, CAN kill. Marijuana by itself cannot, in most cases.

    Moreover, it’s been theorized that the restriction of drugs does not stop them from going to the criminal public. DECRIMINALIZING marijuana actually helps reduce deaths related to the substance, studies show. There are benefits to the decriminalization of the substance itself, the Huffington Post says.

    Donald, I wish you the best in life, but please stop commenting on high school blogs and acting like you know everything about drugs and news. You really don’t. Your anonymity can’t spare you either.

    Sources: https://herb.co/2016/11/06/thc-whole-plant-medicine/ “THC: The Whole Plant Medicine”

    http://www.businessinsider.com/health-benefits-of-medical-marijuana-2014-4?r=UK&IR=T “23 Health Benefits of (Medicinal) Marijuana”

    https://herb.co/2017/01/24/cannabis-feel-like/ “How does Cannabis Feel Like?”

    https://www.huffingtonpost.com/desirae-hoover/4-reasons-why-legalizing-_b_11870030.html “4 Reasons Why Legalizing Marijuana Is The Solution To America’s Problems”

    • D

      DonaldNov 7, 2017 at 3:38 pm

      As a conservative, I have to disagree with you on several points.

      “Come on now, Donald. Don’t get upset. It’s just common knowledge that weed is only a weakener in the human body. Usually it tends to calm the mind and derationalize the thoughts, from what I’ve heard, but marijuana alone does not have such an intense effect as to kill you. ”

      I never said weed kills people directly.

      “Moreover, you can’t OD on it intentionally. You’d have to make a gigantic pipe or abuse mass quantities of it to overdose. THC is actually used to kill cancer, medicinally. Cannabis oil and cannabidol are beneficial to the body when used in a non-recreational practice. I don’t want to spoil your day, but sometimes the truth can hurt. Marijuana, alongside other drugs and a choice of dangerous activity, CAN kill. Marijuana by itself cannot, in most cases.”

      That is why weed should be illegal, as people can be abused and cause deaths. I believe that if any deaths can be prevented it should be. Besides, under federal law, weed is a dangerous and illegal drug that has zero medical use. The laws don’t care about your feelings, you cannot deny that. And the laws probably won’t change as long as Republicans are in control of Congress (since the GOP STRONGLY opposes the legalization of weed). Clearly, you haven’t been paying attention to the speech the DEA Agent gave on Red Ribbon Week.

      “Moreover, it’s been theorized that the restriction of drugs does not stop them from going to the criminal public. DECRIMINALIZING marijuana actually helps reduce deaths related to the substance, studies show. There are benefits to the decriminalization of the substance itself, the Huffington Post says.”

      As a STRONG CONSERVATIVE, I STRONGLY disagree with decriminalizing weed. If weed is decriminalized, criminals are just going to use another drug to cause harm to this country and make money. This is according to the Wall Street Journal. Here is a direct quote from the article, “Legalization, by removing penalties and reducing price, would increase drug demand. Make something easier and cheaper to obtain, and you increase the number of people who will try it. Legalizers love to point out that the Dutch decriminalized marijuana in 1976, with little initial impact. But as drugs gained social acceptance, use increased consistently and sharply, with a 300% rise in use by 1996 among 18-20 year-olds.” Source: https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB1027036381964514720
      In addition, I would like to point out that those that use drugs are responsible for 80% of child abuse cases. Legalizing weed will only raise the number of drug abusers, which will harm the safety and lives of many children. Source:

      “Donald, I wish you the best in life, but please stop commenting on high school blogs and acting like you know everything about drugs and news. You really don’t. Your anonymity can’t spare you either.”

      I don’t care about your feelings. Please don’t act like a snowflake.

  • G

    Gavin SolarezNov 5, 2017 at 3:04 pm

    has anyone ever died strait up from smoking pot. NO. They may died from doing something dumb while high in weed but it has never killed anyone from just smoking it. No less it is prescribed by doctors. Jack daniels or fireball isn’t prescribed by a doctor. Yes it can damage brain cells which you need but there is much worse drugs and dummies to worry about.

    • M

      Maxwell YangNov 6, 2017 at 1:22 pm

      Smoking pot doesn’t directly kill anyone. But it greatly increases your chance of dying via other vectors (think along the lines of car crashes and doing stupid things). Same goes with alcohol.

  • L

    Lucy MullerNov 2, 2017 at 10:48 am

    Unfortunately, the speaker failed to address alcohol, despite critizing weed for the majority of the presentation, which is rarely ever fatal. Alcohol´s impact on the human body is immensely more detrimental than marijuana. Regardless, alcohol still remains legal to anyone over 21 in our country, yet marijuana is still banished in most places in the world.

    • D

      DonaldNov 2, 2017 at 9:34 pm

      Let me disassemble your statements quickly

      “Unfortunately, the speaker failed to address alcohol, despite criticizing weed for the majority of the presentation, which is rarely ever fatal. Alcohol´s impact on the human body is immensely more detrimental than marijuana.”

      The purpose of the presentation is to tell the people to not use drugs. Alcohol was not the focus of the presentation, which is why it was not discussed. The DEA handles drugs, not alcohol. The ATF handles alcohol. In addition, marijuana is detrimental to the human body. Marijuana has been proven in experiments to destroy brain cells and increase the risk of a person receiving a stroke or heart disease.

      “Regardless, alcohol still remains legal to anyone over 21 in our country, yet marijuana is still banished in most places in the world.”

      Marijuana should be illegal. It is classified as a schedule 1 drug for a reason.

      • L

        Lucy MullerNov 3, 2017 at 10:16 am

        Marijuana does not kill people.

        • D

          DonaldNov 3, 2017 at 7:45 pm

          Yes it does. Weed has been known to be detrimental to the lungs and heart, leading to an increase risk to cancer and heart disease. While it may not kill directly, weed does kill people indirectly, just like alcohol. Besides, what is the big deal with weed being illegal in most places? Why are you so opposed to the idea that weed is illegal?

        • S

          SebastianNov 3, 2017 at 8:34 pm

          No, not alone, but combined with other drugs marijuana can still become fatal. It is commonly known that once you start taking drugs, your willpower can become weaker and you are more easily pressured into taking other drugs.

        • D

          DonaldNov 3, 2017 at 9:16 pm

          Please don’t deny the facts, you are really not helping anyone here with your unjustified claims.

  • S

    SebastianNov 2, 2017 at 10:34 am

    Paragraph 4, “Herron spoke intentionally…” I believe you used the wrong word there.