When MDC Board member Knox County District Attorney GeneralRandy Nichols took office over 12 years ago, he quickly realized if he ranthe office the same old way, he would be stuck with the same old problems.He was one of the first District Attorneys in the nation to understand therewas a limited amount his office could do alone to make Knoxville/KnoxCounty safer unless law enforcement partnered not only with othergovernment agencies but also the community as a whole. Fortunately, thepartnership between the DA’s Office and the Metropolitan DrugCommission has been one of his most active. He has devoted his time toappear as part of the MDC’s drama tour, leading the “Wheel ofMisfortune,” gone to 5th Grade classrooms in MDC’s Reach Out Now :Talk to Your Fifth Grader About Alcohol, and recently participated as apanelist for the Knox County Council PTA Symposium onunderage drinking. Working with the MDC, he pulledtogether key community leaders and got their commitmentsto get our underage drinking initiative launched and hascommitted the resources of his office to give priority to ourunderage drinking initiative. Additionally, he has taken thelead in efforts to prevent methamphetamine abuse by workingwith Knox County schools to show his “Meth is Death” videoto every high school and middle school class this year.

Under General Nichol’s leadership, the DA’s office hastaken the lead in numerous interagency cooperative initiativesthat address early intervention and prevention programs fordrug and alcohol related issues. He is Chair of the SAFE POLICY Board,which is a collaborative initiative of government and community agenciesfocusing on preventing crime by addressing issues and conditions thateffect whether or not our children become involved with crime now or inthe future. General Nichols’ Truancy Initiative, entering its 8th year, is apartnership with Knox County Schools and is a prime example of suchprevention efforts. Truancy has been reduced in Knox County and literallythousands of at risk kids have been kept in school, greatly reducing theirchance of committing crimes or being victimized out on the street. Besidesserving on the Board of the MDC, he serves on the Boards of Knoxville’s

Promise and the Boys and Girls Club.“We are fortunate in Knox County to have many partners in the

education of our children, but Randy Nichols’ dedication and supporthave been second to none,” said Dr. Charles Lindsey, superintendent ofKnox County Schools. “Randy’s efforts to protect our children and makesure they are in school are critical to the success of many of our curricularprograms. He understands that if children are not mentally and physicallyhealthy and in school, they cannot learn. He has used his office to buildpartnerships and programs that really benefit children. Our community isa much better place to live because of his efforts.”

General Nichols understands that prevention and law enforcement aretwo sides of the same coin. He has put special emphasis onthe prosecution of underage drinking and underage sales.His office will not dismiss or reduce cases except for absenceof proof or legal barriers. He worked with the GeneralSessions Courts to establish a court that hears only DUIrelated cases and has assigned 3 prosecutors to handle onlyDUI cases. He has assigned a full time lawyer to work onprescription drug diversion and abuse and has worked withthe MDC to upgrade the ability of Tennessee lawenforcement to attack the problem through a statewideprescription drug-monitoring program.

“When Randy Nichols spoke to the studentsduring the Menace project, you could really tell how much he cared thatthis message be delivered to every single person who saw the show. Hisefforts said a lot to me about his goals for the adolescents of Knox Countyand for the campaign against underage drinking,” said 14 yr. old EllisGreer, who played “Courtney” in Menace.

General Nichols – we applaud and salute your dedication to alcoholand drug issues, your outstanding commitment to the youth of ourcommunity and we thank you for your leadership in all our efforts!

A PUBLICATION OF NEWS AND EVENTSAlertAlertMay 2005

Metropolitan Drug CommissionMetropolitan Drug Commission

Spotlight on Knox County District Attorney General Randy Nichols

“Randy’s efforts to

protect our children and

make sure they are in

school are critical to the

success of many of our

curricular programs . . .”Dr. Charles Lindsey

General Nichols at the Governor's Meth Conference

Underage Drinking Task Force Policy Panel Luncheon

General Randy Nichols

Hosting the "Wheel of Misfortune" after the "Menace"production.

"Reach Out Now: Talk to Your 5th Grader about Alcohol"

MAY 2005 PAGE 2

To celebrate April as Alcohol Awareness Month, the Metropolitan Drug Commission (MDC) and

community leaders recently provided elementary schools with a program entitled Reach Out Now: Talk to

Your 5th Grader about Alcohol. Students learned ways to make healthy decisions about drinking and

alternative activities to underage drinking. They also saw how alcohol affects development by adding

rubbing alcohol to egg yolks with medicine droppers provided by the Knox County Health Department.

Students were given take-home bags with games, activities, resources and tips for parents on how to

start a conversation about alcohol and other drugs. The program and resources are made possible by the

Center for Substance Abuse Prevention’s (CSAP) new initiative called Too Smart to Start as well as a grant

from the First Tennessee Bank Employees Fund. The program curriculum was developed by the

partnership established by SAMHSA, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Scholastic Inc.

A HUGE thank you to the following

community leaders for taking the time to

teach our youth about the dangers of

underage drinking: S.A.C. R. Joe Clark,

FBI; Chief Mark Foulks, KFD; Chief Karl

Keierleber, R/M; Chief Gene Blaylock,

R/M; Becky Dockery, First Tennessee;

General Steve Sword; Chief Jerry

Harnish, R/M; Chief Don Green, KPD;

Senator Jamie Hagood; and Jack Ryan

with WIVK the Frog.

2005 Reach Out Now: Talk to Your 5th Grader about Alcohol

WIVK's JACK RYAN

at A.L. Lotts Elementary

SENATOR JAMIE HAGOOD

at Gap Creek Elementary

GENERAL STEVE SWORD

at Dogwood Elementary

CHIEF MARK FOULKS

at Chilhowee Intermediate

CHIEF GENE BLAYLOCK

at South Knoxville Elementary

SAC R. Joe Clark

at Corryton Elementary

CHIEF KARL KEIERLEBERtaught at West View Elementary School

Sheriff Tim Hutchison was recently recognized for his participation in

counterterrorism training. The Honorable Shmuel Ben Shmuel, Consul

General of the State of Israel hosted the event. Thanks Sheriff Hutchison

for your dedication and commitment to ensuring the safety of Knoxvillians.

What did the students think

about Reach Out Now?

“I learned that alcohol slows messages

between your brain and body.”

“I learned that people don’t remember

things after they drink alcohol.”

“I learned that alcohol is a depressant.”

“I learned that when you drink alcohol

your messages can’t get through your

brain cells as quickly as they normally do.”

“I really enjoyed the experiment with the

eggs and eye droppers.”

“I learned that alcohol can make you do

stupid things.”

“What you have said will surely help us

make better decisions in the future.”

“I learned that with one sip of alcohol it

can immediately go into your

bloodstream.”

CHIEF JERRY HARNISH

at East Knox County Elementary

Sheriff Hutchison Recognizedfor Counterterrorism

Carter, Fulton and West for planning the best Prom Promise Awareness Campaign!Winners were selected based on their student-led activities, teacher-led activities andparticipation in local awareness activities such as KPD's Prom Challenge, the AdamDownen Race forResponsibility and the MattEdmonds Memorial GolfTournament. Otherparticipating high schoolsincluded: Central, Karns,Farragut, Powell, Gibbs,Austin East and South Doyle.

Other high schools thatparticipated in the 2005Nationwide Prom PromiseCampaign include: Farragut,Central, Karns, West, Powell,Gibbs, Austin-East, SouthDoyle, Fulton and Carter.

MAY 2005 PAGE 3

2005 Nationwide High School Prom Promise a HUGE Success!The Metropolitan Drug Commission (MDC), Citadel

Broadcasting and Wachovia Securities recently completed the thirdannual Prom Promise campaign encouraging East Tennessee highschool students to avoid drinking and driving on prom night. Thisyear, over 2,000 high school students from Knox County signed theProm Promise pledge card and promised not to drink and drive oruse other drugs on Prom night.

The campaign included Prom Promise sign-up times duringeach participating school’s lunch period. During these sign-ups,representatives from the MDC, Citadel, Tennessee National Guardand a host of community volunteers distributed Nationwide PromPromise materials and informational literature detailing the adverseeffects of underage drinking, drug use and driving under theinfluence.

Wachovia Securities provided financial sponsorship for BlakeMcMeans, a Bearden High School graduate handicapped due to analcohol-related car accident. He now lives in Nashville and toursthe state to encourage students to not make the same mistake hedid.

The Tennessee National Guard provided Fatal VisionSimulator Goggles to demonstrate how quickly impairment canturn fun into devastating consequences for anyone who drivesunder the influence of alcohol or other drugs. One set of thegoggles simulates .10 blood alcohol level; the other set simulates .20blood alcohol level. Students witnessed firsthand that simpleactivities became quite difficult while they were “intoxicated”because of the goggles.

With prom and graduation parties to attend, many teenscelebrate these activities with alcohol and other substances. Thegoal of this campaign is to increase their awareness of the harmfuland potentially fatal consequences of making the choice to drink onprom night.

The campaign also included a contest between participatingschools to see who could come up with the best campaign toencourage students to sign the pledge cards and raise awareness ofthe dangers of drug use during prom season. Three high schoolswon $500 each to help cover the cost of prom. Congratulations to

Pictured above are West High School students with Tennessee National Guardsman, David Knable,

attempting to walk a straight line while wearing Fatal Vision Simulator goggles. West H.S. had the most

signatures with 355. Way to go!

MADD Honors Senator Randy McNally

Senator Randy McNally was recently honored by MADD for his sponsorshipof the following bills: (1) Administrative License Revocation: this law provides forprompt administrative license suspension of offenders who fail a BAC test by registeringabove the illegal limit or refuse to submit to a test; (2) Keg Registration: this law wouldrequire beer kegs and other large beer containers to be tagged with identification tagsand a recording of information from the purchaser; (3) Social Host: the law imposespotential liability on social hosts as a result of their serving alcohol to obviouslyintoxicated persons or minors who subsequently are involved in crashes causing death orinjury to third parties.

“We are so very excited to see our local Senator receive such a high honor withMADD. Senator McNally has been a supporter of highway safety even before a chapterwas in this area. His efforts are greatly appreciated,” said Susan Ford, MADD TN ViceChair, Chapter President MADD Anderson and Union Counties.

From left to right are

Wendy Hamilton,

MADD National

President, Senator

McNally, Susan Ford

MADD TN Vice Chair,

Chapter President

MADD Anderson and

Union Counties and

Laura Dial, Executive

Director of MADD TN.

Drug Alert: "NARC"“Narc”, a video game where players can use illegal

substances and get “high” has recently been released.The game is rated M for Mature (ages 17 and older)and players control one of two narcotics officers.Duties of the officers include arresting drug dealersand then having the option of using the confiscateddrugs. Players can take a hit of marijuana, ingest crackor swallow ecstasy tablets, however, it is possible toplay “Narc” without using drugs. The game has beenmade available for PlayStation 2 and Xbox. Austrailiahas already prohibited selling "NARC."

City of Knoxville Mayor Bill Haslam recently tagged

a public service announcement for the MDC entitled

"Surreal Life." It began airing March 31st and has

grabbed the attention of many area parents. It is crucial to

talk to our youth about the dangers of underage drinking.

In Knoxville, the average age for a child to take their first

drink of alcohol is 10.8. Nationally, the average is 13.2.

In fact, 65% of kids say they get their alcohol from family

and friends. Pictured above are members of the WBIR

crew and actor Betsy Greer, getting ready to leave her teen

daughter (played by Ellis Greer, not pictured) alone for the

weekend.

Mayor Haslam Tags PSA

Metropolitan Drug CommissionP.O. Box 53375Knoxville, TN 37950-3375Phone: 865.588.5550Fax: 865.588.0891

Non-Profit Org.

US Postage Paid

Permit #940

Knoxville, TN

Alert AlertMay 2005

Metropolitan Drug Commission Metropolitan Drug CommissionA PUBLICATION OF NEWS AND EVENTS

VISIT

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SITE

for information about starting or

maintaining a D

rug-free Workplace Program

; parentresources; treatm

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arning signs and effects;and local and national research about drug use.

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etrodrug.org

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MAY 2005

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noxville, TN

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Sharon Ann M

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Judge Tony W. Stansberry, C

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Sam A

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Diane D

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Mayor B

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Sheriff Tim

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Marty Iroff

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2004-2005 MD

C B

oard of Directors

On A

pril 13, the Knox C

ounty Council PT

A held a

symposium

on the dangers of underage drinking and druguse. D

istinguished panelists for the event included Knox

County

District

Attorney

General

Randy

Nichols,

Metropolitan

Drug

Com

mission

Executive

Director

Catherine B

runson, Parent Advocate and form

er MA

DD

Coordinator W

endy Dow

nen, Councilw

oman and B

eerB

oard M

ember

Marilyn

Roddy,

Knoxville

PoliceD

epartment Inspections U

nit Officers Phil M

ajor andK

enny Miller, K

nox County B

oard of Education m

ember

Karen

Carson

and K

nox C

ounty O

ffice of

StudentA

ssistance Services Specialist Peg Hightow

er. WB

IR’s B

enSenger m

oderated the event.

To summ

it an announcement or article to the M

etropolitanD

rug Com

mission’s A

LE

RT

, please call (865) 588-5550.

Since the start of 2005, the MD

C serviced

the comm

unity by providing:

271 Treatm

ent Referrals

3,797 P

revention Materials &

Resources

470,964W

ebsite Hits

MD

C in A

ction

Knox C

ounty Council P

TA

Symposium

on Underage

Drinking Includes D

istinguished Panel

Councilm

an Bob B

eckerteaches at Fulton H

.S.C

ouncilman B

ob Becker and M

DC

Executive D

irectorC

atherine Brunson, recently spoke to a civics class at

Fulton High School. T

he Project Grad coordinator for

Fulton contacted the MD

C about w

ays her students couldlearn

about alcohol,

tobacco and

other drug-related

problems in K

nox County and how

they could become

involved with local governm

ent to address their growing

concerns.