By Michael Miller
LEADER TIMES
Friday, October 27, 2006

KITTANNING -- Eugene Beard spent 16 years working as an undercover agent for the state attorney general's office, and he has seen the bad side of drugs.

He went to jail three times as part of his job, and has seen more drug deals go down than just about anyone.

So he speaks with a little bit of authority when he talks about the dangers of drugs.

From left top right: NCEF Founder David Rettig, Dr. Melvin Steals, Pennsylvania Attorney Generals Assistant Deputy Chief Eugene Beard, Armstrong Superintendent Dr Bill Kerr,
& Kittanning HS Principal James Rummel

Beard, who is an assistant deputy chief in the state attorney general's office, visited Ford City and Kittanning high schools Thursday to talk to students about the impact drugs can have on their lives.

Everything you do in life has a consequence," said Beard, who also is a Baptist minister.

Get involved in drugs, and one of three things is certain to happen: you'll go to jail, you'll end up in a vegetative state, or you'll be dead.

"One of those things is going to happen to you," he said.

Beard blends in humor to get his points across about how drugs can ruin someone's life -- getting students to roar with laughter at one moment, then become completely silent the next as he explains each of those consequences in detail.

"It's not a jail cell, it's a jail cage," he said. "You get a seven by seven square, and that's where you live."

Most people don't start out thinking about going to jail, but once a drug takes control of their life, the fear of that consequence goes away, as a user looks for a way to feed a $300 a day heroin habit.

"I don't care what drug it is, it's a chemical," Beard said. "Your whole life revolves around that chemical."

Beard ran down a list of drugs, and illustrated the problems associated with each, from cigarettes to alcohol, inhalants, marijuana, methamphetamine and heroin. Young people who experiment with those drugs, especially the last two, are quickly hooked, he said.

"One you use that methamphetamine that's out there today, it owns you," Beard said. "You lose your hair, your teeth, your skin will turn gray, and eventually you'll die from it," he said.

"I guarantee you, that's your future," he said.

Beard is the supervisor of the attorney general's Drug Demand Reduction Unit, a group of people who go out to try to convince young people, and even adults, to stay away from drugs.

"You need to fight drugs on both ends," Beard said. Dealers get arrested as part of that fight, but the other side is to keep people from getting involved in the first place.

The most effective message, he said, is to drill his message about how drugs will lead to jail, to being unable to care for yourself or dead.

"If you don't remember anything else I say to you, remember those three consequences."

Michael Miller can be reached at mmiller@tribweb.com or (724) 543-1303 ext 219.