Times Observer photo by Brian Ferry Youngsville Borough Police Chief Todd Mineweaser (right) introduces Tall Cop Jermaine Galloway during a drug awareness presentation Thursday at Warren Area High School.

Tall Cop Says Stop… but you can’t stop what you don’t know.

Tall Cop Jermaine Galloway spoke with a group of educators, parents, and others last week at Warren Area High School.

Galloway was a law enforcement officer for 18 years. Now, he helps people know what the drug trends are, what to look for, and how to deal with any issues.

He started by talking about popular drugs. “What’s popular with your kids?” Galloway asked. “Whatever they can get their hands on.”

“Think about what is being sold in your community,” he said. “If it’s more available, they’re going to do it more. Cannabis? Vapes? Pills? Alcohol? Are those easy to get? Yes. All of them.”

“Vapes are an epidemic in schools right now,” he said. School officials know about them and are on the look-out, but many students are addicted to the high levels of nicotine in them, so they can’t just leave their vapes home.

He said vapes, whether they contain nicotine as an active ingredient or some concentration of cannabis, may be purchased in local shops. There are other vapes that contain other, stronger, drugs. “Some of the kids ordering vapes online don’t even know what’s in them,” Galloway said. “They put other stuff in there.”

That makes it difficult to know how to treat a negative side-effect that a young person says could be from a vape.

That they don’t know what’s in a particular product doesn’t mean they don’t know how to find something.

“Your kids are PhD-level researchers when they’re interested,” he said.

They can find out what over-the-counter medicines can get them high.

“You can use products from legitimate locations in illegitimate ways,” Galloway said. In addition to the drug impacts, using something in a way that it was not intended introduces the chance of unintended side-effects.

Young people know which “mood enhancers” and “dietary supplements” that are available in pharmacies, or even in gas stations, are actually psychoactive drugs.

“If you trust a gas station clerk with your health… isn’t that more on you?” he said.

The packaging and appearance of drugs has made them more interesting to younger people. “Years ago, if you had a fourth, fifth, or sixth grader, that wasn’t a problem,” he said. “Vapes and edibles have changed that.”

“We are making drugs taste like cotton candy, strawberries, and raspberries,” he said.

Many of the images Galloway showed pictured drugs packaged in bright colors with cute names and fun flavors.

One of the problems that he said people must understand is that drugs have increased in potency. “Compared to 15 years ago… if that was like lite beer, now they’re drinking strong spirits.”

He said the marijuana being smoked in the 1960s had about a 3 percent concentration of THC. In the 80s, that percentage was up around 12.

“Dabs and concentrates are 40 to 80 percent,” and there are products claiming 97 percent, he said.

The contents of vapes are growing stronger and the number of ‘hits’ in a container can be up to 10,000 — making the drug more economically available for a young person.

Synthetic drugs — anything that is created or manipulated in a laboratory or otherwise not grown from the ground — can be particularly problematic.

Even the nicotine available today is stronger. There is synthetic nicotine — nicotine salt.

In addition to the trouble facing those trying to create laws related to those substances, “you really don’t know what you’re taking” in many cases, Galloway said.

But, just because something is ‘natural’ or even ‘vegan’ doesn’t mean it’s safe for consumption.

“Kratom – you can buy this at gas stations — is a plant… a natural herb sold as a painkiller.

Galloway talked about stash compartments (or diversion safes) — which can be found in some hats and backpacks — where drugs can be surreptitiously carried.

A popular brand of backpack is known to have stash compartments. That a student likes a particular backpack does not necessarily mean they’re hiding drugs in it. “It’s only something wrong if they put something wrong in it,” Galloway said.

He said other items can be used to hide whatever a young person wants to hide.

“If it’s out of place, it’s probably out of place for a reason,” Galloway said. “You will be wrong sometimes, but you’re going to be right more than you’re going to be wrong.”

“Don’t make accusations,” he said. “Don’t get upset. It’s better to get the information than flame out immediately.”

“Ask questions,” Galloway said. “Do they all know about vapes? Yes. Do they all know about cannabis? Yes.”

“Let your kid lead the conversation,” he said. “They always know more than you think they know.”

Some young people wear clothing related to drug use. Again, it’s not a sure sign that the person is using, but it’s an indicator, Galloway said. If a young person suddenly shows up wearing a Wedding Cake shirt, it probably doesn’t have anything to do with confections for special life events.

“Wedding Cake is a cannabis brand,” he said. “Indicas are downers. Sativas are uppers.”

Some of the drug-use indicators concerned adults can look for are physical. Many more are mental.

“It is not the only cause of mental health (problems), but boy is it a factor,” Galloway said. “They’re partners in crime. You cannot talk about mental health rising and not talk about drugs.”