St. Charles County, Missouri – Prosecuting Attorney Tim Lohmar partnered with the St. Charles County Drug Court and the Drug Task Force to host the first annual Teen Drug Summit. Over 300 middle school students from both the private and public schools attended the all-day event. The Summit featured Miss Teen Missouri, Ashley Cancienne, who shared a personal account of heroin abuse within her family, as well as, Gee Vigna, co-founder of Walking for Wellness; Stop Heroin, who lost a loved one to a heroin overdose in 2013.
The goal of the summit was to educate and empower our St. Charles County student leaders to return to their respective schools and spread the message about the dangers of heroin. The students were educated on addiction as well as legal ramifications of heroin use, hearing firsthand accounts from undercover drug enforcement detectives and from several individuals who are recovering from heroin addiction. The continuing message from prosecutors, drug task officers, recovering addicts and community leaders was “Not Even Once.”
“One of the most effective ways to spread the message to our community’s teenagers about the dangers of heroin is to educate and empower student leaders to take the message back to their schools: heroin use is not okay.”
Many local businesses helped sponsor the event including: EMASS, Krey Distributing Company, Baue Funeral Homes, Centerpointe Hospital, Botz, Deal & Company, Crider Health Center, Jerry Kelly Heating, The Ryan Law Firm, Smith Law Offices, Burke, Wulff, Flach, Luber & Briscoe LLP, Community Services of Missouri, Enterprise Rental and the St. Charles Jaycess Junior. Thanks to all of our sponsors.