'Life on the Road' Takes on a Whole New Meaning
A Tribute to Drug Prevention Specialists for Red Ribbon Week

Driving from Oklahoma City, OK to Little Rock, AR, J.T. Daily sits in his car (all six feet seven inches of him) pondering where to stay for the night. Although cooked-to-order omlettes and fresh-squeezed orange juice in a five-star hotel would be nice to wake up to, he decides to pull over to the nearest clean motel. After all, he's on a tight budget. This happens to be a pretty routine exercise for J.T., as he spends most of the week on the road between several states.
J.T. Daily doesn't have a life of glamour and fame; at least he's not famous to the general public. He is special though, and thousands of students and teachers think he's a hero. You see, Daily is something called a Drug Prevention Specialist. In fact, he's the Director of Drug Education for Narconon Arrowhead, one of the nation's largest drug and alcohol rehabilitation and education programs. His primary purpose at this point in his life is to educate young and old alike about the true dangers of drug use.
J.T. happens to be busier than usual because it's Red Ribbon Week, which is the nationally observed drug prevention week, ending on the 31st of October. Daily's passion for his chosen profession comes from personal triumph over tragedy. He was a former drug addict who nearly lost his life to substance abuse and has been able to beat his addiction through the Narconon® Program. "I like to talk to kids because it gives me an opportunity to share knowledge about drugs that I didn't have growing up," explains the 23-year old former college basketball player from Maryland. "Sure people told me drugs were bad, but I never knew exactly what happened to a person's mind and body when they were taken."
One piece of information that a typical presentation by J.T. contains is the fact that drugs store in the fatty tissue of a person's body and remain there for years after use ceases, causing intense cravings for the drug. This was discovered by American author and humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard. The remedy for that problem, which is not addressed by typical programs or introduced in our public schools, was also discovered by Hubbard in the form of a sauna detoxification program. In fact, the majority of the U.S. population doesn't know what happens internally when toxic substances such as drugs are ingested and how they continue to affect an individual's physical and mental health. Vital information such as that combined with J.T.'s charismatic delivery and sincerity makes him a hit in every school he visits.
"I keep thinking of my younger niece and nephew," says J.T., "and that I hope that I can be a positive influence on their lives too. I don't want anybody to have to go through the pain and agony that I had to deal with because of the drugs that I did. Nobody ever thinks that they are going to become addicted; kids don't think it will be them that get hurt."
This is part of a message that Daily has given to about 11,000 kids in the last three weeks. Surveys show that kids appreciate the honesty from someone who's "been there", as is the case with J.T, and who can accurately depict what the life of a drug addict is really like. The fact is, drug addiction can not only be overcome, but it can be effectively prevented as well. This is a small piece that shows how much of a difference just one person can make in the lives of thousands.
Now that it is the end of Red Ribbon Week, please take the time to talk to your kids about the dangers of drugs. There are a lot of people like J.T. who devote their lives to ending the nation's number one societal problem, but every bit of reinforcement helps.

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