ROCKINGHAM COUNTY, N.C. — Students, teachers, and parents will attend a town hall Tuesday night in Rockingham County to talk about the dangers of fentanyl.
It’s a hot topic that’s growing as Rockingham County joins Guilford County on the matter.
Guilford County hosted town halls last spring. The town halls came about after a survey at Northern Guilford High School showed nearly 90% of students said drugs were a problem at school.
Kathleen Smith helped plan that meeting. She’s happy to see more counties doing the same.
"It feels really good, but you don't want to pat yourself on the back too much as a school community, knowing there's just so much more work to be done, and you know, the problem is really pervasive. I sat down with some moms and kids not long ago on my back porch and you know, I had this girl who I highly respect, who is in college; she’s just like, ‘Ms. Smith, everybody does it,' kind of like, get over it, but that's not what I want. We want to raise our kids to treat their bodies, for the most part, like cathedrals,” Smith said.
Law enforcement officials said fentanyl really ramped up in 2015. They said what used to be a heroin problem is now a fentanyl problem.
It’s in other drugs too, like cocaine and meth.
Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page said fentanyl can come in powder, liquid, or pill form.
'They say that six out of 10 pills that come into the United States out of Mexico are loaded up with Fentanyl. So, it's a roll the dice, you take a chance, but it can kill you, and that's what we're trying to tell our children. And it’s an important enough message, we've got to let our middle school kids know, we've got to let our high school kids know, and we've got to let our parents know,” Sheriff Page said.
The sheriff said fentanyl can also come in liquid form for vapes, or pill form, mistaken for ibuprofen.
The meeting is a Rockingham Community College, starting at 6 p.m. Everyone is invited, but the focus is for middle school-age children and up.