About 18 months ago, the City of Marysville hosted a Town Hall forum on gang awareness. The event, which featured a national figure in gang prevention, attracted hundreds of concerned parents and community members.

This past week the City teamed up with several community organizations for a discussion about underage drinking and prescription drug abuse. By my count, three parents were in the audience, vastly outnumbered by police officers, city leaders, intervention specialists and community organizers.

I've been pondering the low turnout for the recent Town Hall, and two possibilities come to mind. Either organizers failed to get the word out, or the issue doesn't raise the same red flags as gang involvement.

Personally, I was shocked to hear about middle school students using heroin as a substitute for Ritalin and other abused prescription drugs. It saddened me to hear that teens drink "just to get drunk." This is a message that parents need to hear, as painful as it may be.

Marysville has developed a strong community support network, and representatives of many of the resources were on hand at the forum. Too bad there was no one there to take advantage of that outreach.

If you suspect your teenager may be messing around with substances that are dangerous, whether alcohol or drugs, please see the article on page ?? of this issue for the list of local resources. Don't stick your head in the sand.

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