“Our goal with the training is twofold,” said Mike Powell, chairman of the Drug Awareness Prevention Team with the Spalding Collaborative, which is putting the event together. “One is to provide drug awareness education to the local community and to equip both professionals and family members with practical tools in working with the substance abuse issue.”
He said that involving diverse actors within Griffin-Spalding County - law enforcement, social services and “the faith and business communities” - in the fight against substance abuse will fulfill the collaborative’s goal in bringing people together for a common cause.
Chuck Wade, executive director of the Council on Alcohol and Drugs, will speak during lunch at the event.
“Chuck Wade speaks a lot on ‘Drugs Don’t Work’ as related to the workplace,” Powell said. “That will be the topic he will be addressing.”
After a break from 1 p.m. until 1:15 p.m., Hunt Slade from ICM City of Hope and Ed Youmans from Midway Recovery will speak about finding resources to assist those who are addicted.
“They’ll be informing attendees of how to access resources for treatment and help,” Powell said.
Tracy Wilson, chairwoman of the Carroll Meth Awareness Coalition, will be speaking at the event in the morning.
“This is something that has become a growing issue statewide and it’s very important that the Griffin area has decided to put together a coalition to stop the meth epidemic,” Wilson said.
She said everyone has a story to tell about the drug, whether it is someone with an addict in the family or someone who has been burglarized by an addict.
“The hope (today) is to educate people in the area about the problems associated with meth and the impact it has on the entire community,” she said.
Wilson said the communitywide impact of the drug comes from its effect on law enforcement - which is paid for out of everyone’s taxes - and on children.
Bonnie Pfrogner, executive director of the Griffin-Spalding Chamber of Commerce, believes the event will benefit Griffin.
“I think it’s going to be a good program for the community and I know there will be a lot of benefits to the people who attend, educationally,” she said.
Registration will begin at 8:30 a.m. The summit will last until 3:30 p.m. The event is sponsored by the Drug Awareness Preventing Team, the Griffin-Spalding Chamber of Commerce, the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office Victim’s Services Unit, the Spalding County Sheriff’s Office Special Operations and the Southeast Addiction Transfer Technology Center of the Morehouse School of Medicine.
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