I’m inviting you to see the DEA and SHERIFF video presentation that I saw a few weeks ago that opened my eyes to the prescription drug problem and drug abuse in our San Diego high schools.

If you live in Poway or around the 56 freeway, I want you to especially pay attention to this blog.   The problem is everywhere in town, but the majority of it is coming from Poway, Carmel Valley, and the Rancho Penasquitos area.   

At 6:30 tonight at a home in El Cajon, Dave Ross from the San Diego Sheriffs will show the presentation that made me walk over to KUSI’s GM’S office and say, “You need to put this on your TV station!”

We are back to school with our kids.  We are going to “Back to School Nights” and seeing their classrooms and meeting their teachers.  That’s all fine, but the reality of it all, especially in 8th grade to 12 grade, drugs are being taken by kids.

If you’re a parent reading this rolling your eyes then I can put my money where my mouth is or whatever the phrase is, by inviting you to Karin Prather Murphy’s home in El Cajon.   You can email her for directions.   nailz4u@cox.net

Karin’s son Seth died earlier this year from drugs and it is her passion to bring awareness to everyone and to help parents and their children.   It’s in honor of Seth.  She even started the Seth Foundation.

You may have read a few blogs about my opinion about drugs and what I’m really feeling and nervous about as a parent of two kids that fit the description of kids that may be in the position to be asked to use drugs.

I speak to my kids all the time about drugs. I spoke to them at dinner just last night.   The things they know and see are “frickin incredible”.

If you believe me, then come see the presentation tonight.

If you don’t believe me, then come see the presentation tonight.

If you are not sure and you have never even had a drug problem in your family, but you have teens or a child, then come see the presentation tonight.

If you are a teen or young adult that needs help, come see the presentation tonight.

Email Karin asap at nailz4u@cox.net    Tonight in El Cajon, your eyes will be opened to the problem that has inspired to do all I can to help bring awareness.

5 years ago today, the Jeff and Jer Showgram started working over at Clearchannel radio and ultimately Star 94.1.  I laugh as I think back to how I was back then.  5 years ago, I was getting high and I just came back from a Greek cruise with some girl.

Today, I’m a totally different person and if I had a chance to go on a cruise, it would be with kids from the Hopes and Dreams Academy.  

I heard Bob Taylor say that in 5 years you can do anything you want.  You can become an expert in anything you desire in 5 years time. You can change your life in 5 years.  Did my life change in 5 years?   YEP!   Where will it be in the next 5 years?  I smile when I think of the possibilities.  I want to say in 5 years, “Remember when all this was just a thought back in 2010!”

Yesterday, I found myself staring out at the ocean thinking about things.

When I stare out in to the ocean, I think about things that are important in my life AND where my life is heading.  I thought about my kids and I thought about my mom and sisters.  I said a prayer and asked for my brothers to watch over my mom.  I thought “briefly” about radio and then thought about my friends and everyone I love.

There were two things that stayed on my mind the most as I just took in the view.    The first thing were my two kids Eddie and Vanessa.  I just want to be able to teach them what is truly important in life.  I wish I had someone to sit me down when I was a kid and tell me a few things.  I think I know a lot about life NOW, but it took a lifelong of mistakes and blunders to give me this wisdom.  I want to be able to give all I know, good and bad to Eddie and Vanessa for them to make good choices in their life and to be successful and happy.  I have learned the definition of success over the last year and I want to teach that to my children.  Success isn’t a money thing, it’s a heart and soul thing.

The 2nd thing I thought about was the drug problem in our city and in our schools.  I stared out in to the ocean wondering how the drug problem currently in San Diego got this way and I thought about myself and my history and how things happen and how I wish I was able to do more with this problem.  I honestly feel, this is my passion in life more than anything including radio.  I feel like I get it and understand how things happened and I want to be able to bring awareness to everyone, because people aren’t understanding it YET.

KUSI is allowing me to work with them on their committment to this problem.   They rescheduled their week long news reports to October 4th.  They will talk about all that I have learned and all that is happening in our schools with the prescription drug and oxycontin problem.   They also rescheduled their prime time public forum on this subject to Tuesday October 12th.  So, erase the September date I originally told you about and change it to Tuesday October 12th.  I am so proud to be part of the planning and producing of this forum.

It’s a good feeling to feel at peace with your life as you stare out in to the ocean and feel that it is on the right path and your head isn’t all jacked up.  5 years ago, if I stared out in to the ocean, I probably would be thinking more about radio and only radio and wanting to be rich and I probably would be checking out the chicks on the sand instead of looking out in to the ocean and feeling God.

I love how my life is today. I love how I keep good healthy people close to me. I love that I don’t date and I love the things that are close to me and I actually love that radio was out of my life for a year, because it brought my life back to me.

Timing is a trip.  I believe TIMING of things isn’t just a coincidence it’s God saying, “Yep, you heard me.”  

When I got in to my car, I had a text message from a long time friend asking if I could call her son because there was drama.  I called the kid and he told me what was going on in his life and in his home and I knew right then that the path I was on about drugs and wanting to help was the right one.

I spent the next hour or two talking to the kid and giving him advice.  It felt like I was doing what I was meant to be doing in life. 

Isn’t life a trip?  Why didn’t I get it back then?  Why didn’t I feel the way I do about things NOW back when I was 23?  If I lived a clean life for all those years, would I feel the way I do today about things?  I’m going to assume that I lived my life for a reason and that reason was to get where I am today. 

Is it true He knows where you life is heading?  Is it true He knows what he wants you to do in life?  Did God really know I was going to make my mistakes in life?

Is sobriety a God thing?

I am passionate about things that I know.  Things I know in my heart.   Does everyone feel that?  Is everyone waking up this morning passionate about something?   Are there people in the world not feeling at peace?   Do people know they are living their life for a reason that they may not even know yet?

Could I be wrong about all that I feel?

I believe I am right.  I can feel it in my soul.  How do I confirm what I am doing is right? 

Will He show me another sign?

Is the ocean God?    

Look how beautiful Anita and Laura looked at Sunday’s Emmy awards in Los Angeles!

I was able to go to the Emmy awards with Laura and Anita on Sunday.  It was sure fun going to the show and hanging out with them both.  I talk to Laura a few times a day and it’s rare we go out.  We need to change that and do more stuff together.  Anita is Clark Batram’s wife. Clark started http://www.hopesanddreamsacademy.com with me a few months ago.

Juli Dodd is also a friend of mine from San Diego.  She was up there too with her sister Cathie.  Juli was nice enough to take these pictures of all of us.  She said I can post them on my blog if I mention her business:   http://www.tearsofjoyvideo.com    It’s a really cool business that captures events for you and makes a video blog or presentation.  She does them for the Emmy Awards and many other things.   This is Juli on the right next to Simone and Cathie on the left.  

Here I am telling all the nominees to please keep their acceptance speech to just 1 minute!

I really like going to the Emmy and Academy Awards.   I still get star struck. 

We arrived in Los Angeles Saturday night and stayed at the JW Marriott next to the Nokia Theatre.  We had two rooms.  Anita had her own room and Laura and I shared a small bed together.  JUST KIDDING.  We had a girls room and a boys room.

While they were taking pictures of each other and having a great time in their suite, I was all alone and the only one that took a picture of me was ME.

Yes, I use Ban deodorant (powdered scent).

Saturday night for a few hours we hung out at the pool bar and just people watched and looked down at the view of the red carpet.

It’s kind of funny.  Laura and Anita are like models.  Every chance we got, they would pose.  They are like professionals. I don’t think I have ever seen a bad picture of either of them.

You know what was really cool?   My brother Ray’s high school girlfriend Paula from a very long time ago at Castle Park met us there with her two kids Jen and Andrew.   She was really close to Ray and even lived in LA with Lola in the early 70’s.  I love seeing Paula, because she tells me stories about when I was a little baby and things about Ray that I never knew about.  She fills in some missing pieces of my life everytime I see her.   During the Emmy pre game stuff, Paula came to me and said she was in the bathroom and she said she felt my brother Ray telling her he was happy we were together for the weekend.  I really believe that.   Here’s Paula with her two kids.

It was cool after the show was over to walk through the Marriott and through one of the after parties.  Laura got to say hello to Aaron Paul the dude from Breaking Bad.  She was so excited, she called Jerry and told him immediately.  It took Jerry a few seconds to remember who Laura was.

I thought Jimmy Fallon did an amazing job hosting the Emmy Awards.   Although, I will always remember the fun all of us had going up to the Emmy Awards, the one thing I will forever keep with me in my heart was what George Clooney said.

George Clooney accepted the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award for all the stuff he does and is part of when the camera’s not rolling.  George Clooney does so much stuff that it makes you want him to succeed in life to do more good for the world.  He works so hard for the people of Haiti and many other people in the world and he is always the first celebrity to be anywhere to help during a time of need.         

BUT, what George Clooney said during the broadcast was that we all fail when it comes to helping out years after the story has been in the news.  Katrina, for example was in the news of course 5 years ago and we all helped out as much as we could, but are we helping them now?   We all fail when it comes to follow up.   What about the stories you NEVER hear or read about that needs just as much attention as the popular stories?   We all fail when it comes to helping them.

That hit me big time and that will forever change the way I am.   I want to help and I want to be there and lend a hand or all I can, but I have also failed when it comes to the stuff you don’t hear or read about anymore and I’m glad I was at the Emmy Awards for that moment alone.

This morning I woke up at 6am with just 3 hours of sleep.  I was tired, but also excited, because something happened to me in the wee hours of the morning going in to Monday August 30, 2010.  Perhaps a date that will be very special to me in my life. 

It was about 1am when I realized something so powerful that it may perhaps put my radio squawk box in a shoe box and up in a closet and move on from radio and ultimately the Jeff and Jer Showgram.   The show is my family, but I think after what I am about to announce they will support me on this, because I can only do it with their backing and blessing.

At 11:30pm Sunday, I left the JW Marriott hotel underground parking garage with Laura Cain in the passenger seat and our friend Anita  Bartram in the backseat.   I was driving and we just spent the weekend at the Emmy awards.  We were all excited and tired and just wanted to get home to our families.

I was struggling to stay awake, so I downed a Red Bull and a Monster.  Anita fell asleep fast and Laura was up talking to me and reminding me how to get to the 15.  I wanted to take the 15 all way down to San Diego instead of taking the nomal Insterstate 5 freeway.

With Laura as my guide, I made it from the Nokia Theatre in downtown Los Angeles to San Diego in 89 minutes.  I even dropped off Anita at her home and helped her with her bags and made it to my house and in bed like in 100 minutes from the time I left Los Angeles.  I need to repeat that because it is not a typo.  I made it from LA to San Diego in 89 minutes.

It was a revelation to me last night that I could perhaps put away my radio micorphone and headsets and become a Nascar driver!!!  I think I can do it.  I can be a famous Nascar driver dude.  There’s just that one famous dude that’s from San Diego and that’s it. I can be the 2nd famous and successful Nascar dude from this area and I can specifically claim Chula Vista as my homebase.

I can drive real fast around a circle.  It’s easy.  I don’t even need much practice or training.   I think if I win a few races, it will be good money and that would kind of replace all that I went through to survive during this year hiatus.

I think if I take Jerry to Karl Strauss for lunch and get him some beers, he may back me and buy me a cool car to drive. I can put Jeff and Jer’s faces on it and other friends that have money.  I can get Bob Taylor from Taylor Guitars to pitch in and maybe even Werner from Ocean Enterprises.   I can call all my rich friends to help get me a few cars to drive and then I can qualify for all the big races like the Daytona thing and the big Indiannapolis one.

Yes, I do want to get back on the radio even if it’s just for that first day back on the air, because sitting out for a year, I just need to get back on the air to make this whole year worth it and to say we did it, but the minute I officially pop in with my box and say HELLO, then I can put together my departure from radio and become a famous Nascar dude.

Some people say that Nascar dudes are like athletes.  Hmmm, not sure about that.  I can continue to eat and not really worry about working out since all I have to do is sit in the seat and go in circles.  I can do this. 

So, I am checking with the Guiness World Record people to see if 89 minutes is a record or not and if it is, then I can use that fact in my press release that announces I am perhaps leaving Jeff and Jer and radio to become a Nascar dude.

I feel so happy about this and so blessed to have been able to go that fast with no other cars around me and without any cops or CHP messing with me. 

I feel I was given a chance to see the driving skills I obviously have and think of this career change.

God bless us everyone!!!!!

Yesterday, was really fun hanging out with Randy and Laura.  We met at our friend Wayne Brubaker’s house in Mission Hills. His house is a trip. It was built in 1925 and is actually an official historical landmark.  You feel “ghosts” in the house.   We were there working on a project.  

Wayne says that in his house is the ghost of the original owner of the home.  Wayne was telling us that he feels the ghost of the man every night when he goes to bed.  He says the ghost touches his forehead.   UH, what?   If a ghost was touching my forehead when I went nighty night, I would not stay in the poltergeist house.  I would have ditched the first time. 

Later on in the day, Wayne and I set up a tape machine and I went down to my mom’s house and gathered a few reel to reel tapes from 1993-1997 Jeff and Jer days.  My mom’s house is the storage place for old Q106 tapes.  I have a storage room in Poway that is the official storage room for the Y95 and B100 days which is 1988-1993.   The rest of the newer stuff I have on a drive.  BUT, Wayne and I wanted to see if through time, the reels were stored properly and sounded okay.  THEY DID.   The tapes preserved well and yesterday I took a few minutes to listen back to old school Jeff and Jer from the early 90’s.  It was fun to listen to see how we all were.  In one segment, Jeff talks about going to dinner with Nina and Laura started talking about Dave and then I talked about Dannell being pregnant with our baby.  It was a trip.

The Jeff and Jer Showgram is family.  Even though, I talk to everyone on the show individually, we haven’t seen too much of each other. It was so much fun to hang out yesterday and it was cool to hear how we talk to eachother.  Yesterday, at lunch was like being on the air.   It just feels so good to be with everyone and just talk.   We stuck it out for one full year and a little bit more and now we’re on the eve of coming back on the air and I am so proud of all of us.

I can’t wait for the Jeff and Jer Showgram to get back on the air especially in San Diego.  I flip around all the time to see what everyone is doing on the air and I’m friends with everyone, but there is nothing truly out there that’s all that great and that’s why I can’t wait for the Jeff and Jer Showgram to come back on the air.  We’re going to explode.  We have so much energy and stuff to talk about that we are already debating with who gets the first line when we turn on those mics for that very first time.

I have a real cool weekend planned.  It actually starts today when I pick up Eddie from school and we go to the Carmel Valley skatepark and practice for his competition tomorrow.  He has two more AM SLAM competitions before he turns 14.  Tomorrow is in Carmel Valley and then later on in a few weeks is the the final one in Oceanside.  

Tomorrow also marks the one year anniversary of meeting Jamie.  I am pretty mushy with dates and anniversaries and it is a big deal to me that I met Jamie one year ago.  It’s cool within one full year, we’ve become great friends.  I think what it is, is that she came in to my life when things were happening that I wasn’t familiar with.  She was there when I was going through all the emotion of not being on the air and then when I got involved with all the Chelsea and Amber stuff. She was my friend and someone I was able to vent and talk to during this whole unforgettable era in my life.   I also think the fact that she’s a first grade teacher made me like her even more, but we are just friends.

Castle Park High School has like a little reunion on Saturday and I’m trying my best to make it there, because I would love to see so many friends from school.

BUT, early Saturday evening, I take off to Los Angeles with Laura and Anita.  We will be going to the Emmy’s on Sunday.  So, you need to watch for us.

With all the stuff that is going on and with all the things lined up over the next few days, I feel like this weekend is a time to put the last year to rest and come back home from the Emmy’s and start a brand new year and get back to work.  I love the fact that getting back to work means way more than radio.  I am still going to continue my work with Clark Bartram on Hopes and Dreams and I love the fact that the suits at KUSI has made me feel at home where I can assist the TV producers with the community forum on drug awareness in our schools.  We are penciled in to have the forum on September 28th, but I hear KUSI may move it to October, so we can talk about it on the air.   

I miss being on the radio so much.  I have a lot to say and a lot to write about the moment we make everything known and official.  This last year has been a very emotional year to say the least and I can’t wait to actually tell you my thoughts about it all, but I can’t do that until the word is out and we are just about there.

Have a great weekend!!!!

There’s so much to say about going back to school. I have a few friends that are teachers and it takes a wonderful person to do what they do and it’s awesome when a teacher forgets the BS they hear about education and all those budget cuts and they just do what truly is in their heart and that is to teach our children.

How cool is it to know that there are teachers out there that cut their summer off sooner than expected to go to their classroom and make it look all pretty for their new students.

Teachers influence our children so much. I am alive today, because I had great teachers, counselors, and coaches that cared and loved what they did.

Here’s a great example of how a teacher influences a child.  I’m okay that this happened, but it’s not suppose to have happened, especially in school, but it made my son think and he brought it home that day and debated me, which I loved.

Eddie jumped in my car last week and quickly said to me, “That’s pretty messed up that they’re builidng that mosque in New York, huh?”   I asked if he was talking about that in class and he said, “Well, the teacher told us she wasn’t suppose to but she wanted to vent and said it should not go up.”   I asked Eddie what he thought and he said, “It’s messed up.”

I do know if Eddie’s teacher said the opposite, he would have felt the same way the teacher felt regardless, because he grew up thinking that the teacher is always right.   

Going back to school is a fun and exciting time.   Especially, when you have little kids and you see their cute little classroom and all the parents meeting in front of the school dropping off their child and gossiping about the neighborhood.  

But, it’s also a scary time if you have kids that are older.  If you don’t think it’s a scary time, it’s because you may not know what truly is going on in our high schools in San Diego.

I speak to my kids almost daily about drugs in school and in their school.   They go to a great middle school and a great high school in the area and they are aware that drugs are in their school.  

I was with a group of kids as I was preparing for the KUSI drug forum and I asked one of the kids if they think oxycontin and heroin is a big problem where they go and one of them said to me, “I know of a few people that do that, but ecstacy is the main thing people are doing at our school.”    Days later, that same child said to me, “I know someone that sells heroin at school, they call it brown.”

This is what reality is in our schools.   Parents including myself need to wake up and get to know our children and what they are doing at school and who they are hanging out with and remind them to say NO to drugs and to make sure they are not being peer pressured.

My kids have friends that are their age that have already been in and out of rehab facilities.

I didn’t have this view a few months ago.  It changed when I watched a presentation about the prescription drug problem in San Diego and our schools especially where I live in the Poway School District. 

Tonight, when you are buying your kids school supplies, you should literally go to the pharmacy and also get drug test kits.  Drug test your kids.  Make it part of your routine every few days.  I’m saying this because drugs are now little pills they can easily get in their own medicince cabinet.   The drug dealer today in schools is actually their own parents that are on medication that are not hiding or locking up their medication properly or destroying what is not needed.  The drug dealer today at school looks like a kid that would babysit for you.

Just know that there’s a big problem out there.  Don’t be ignorant to any of this.  Don’t pretend this isn’t happening.  Don’t be a Carmel Valley mom sipping your wine and sending off junior to school thinking that there are no drugs at Torrey Pines High School.

The reason why I talk about this now is that I come from the old school way of thinking and doing drugs.  I thought the chain went from weed to speed and that was it and only a few did heroin.   Today, kids are going to heroin in high numbers, because they think it’s just a cheaper way to get high than paying for the more expensive oxycontin.

Marijuana is still the gateway drug.  If you can stop your kid from thinking marijuana is fine and dandy, you are already ahead of the game.  If your kid thinks that weed is mild and not truly a drug, you got yourself a big problem.  Many people that do oxycontin started because they hear it’s way better than getting stoned.

Check their backpacks too.  Also, if you give your kid 3 to 5 bucks for lunch and he or she comes home with a few hundred dollars,you may want to count your pills you have up in the medicine cabinet.

I love old pictures.  This picture of my son Eddie makes me smile.  He must have been 5 or 6.

There’s a cool little website that Eddie plays around with.  You pop in a picture of yourself and it spits out funny little images of you.  http://www.photofunia.com   What I love about this next picture is that Eddie put in a picture of himself and the picture that came out looks like my brother Frank. 

I woke up in the middle of the night and heard this song on the television.  I heard it from the beginning until the end.  It played during the end of a movie while the credits were rolling.  It was at the right volume where I could hear the keyboards, drums, guitar and vocals really well.  The song spoke to me. John Fogerty is a white dude, but this song shows off his soul.  I heard the easy lyrics and it felt like I was going to church. I heard the chords and I realized I was in church.  Creedence Clearwater Revival:   Long As I Can See The Light!

I just want to share it with you because it’s such a heartfelt beautiful LIVE sounding song.  I don’t know the history of this song YET, but I will make an un educated guess that this song was written with Janis Joplin in mind.  When I hear the words, it inspires me to move on and to get home and know that there is a better way and to focus on that light, even though you think it’s too far out there and you can’t get to it.    

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFqddXbhTZQ

Yesterday, was my birthday.  I rarely want to do anything on my birthday.  So, I had a nice, simple, great day.  I started off ready to do bleachers with my friend Anita, but she wussed out because it was too hot, so we decided to just go to breakfast.     She actually found out she was able to go to the Emmy’s with me and Laura when she woke up, so she was very excited and just wanted to figure out what she was going to wear.   Watch for me, Laura, and Anita Sunday night on NBC cable 7 locally in San Diego.   My goal is to go home with Jennifer Aniston or Betty White.

I saw my friend Jamie for lunch. She also just found out some great news a few minutes before we met up.  Geez, I just realized everywhere I went people just found out some great news.  I met Jamie one year ago.  I would never have thought I would still be off the air one year later.  She is the main reason why I was able to be part of so many things over the last several months. I guess you can say she inspired me throughout the year.   

Then it was off to Temecula to see Eddie and Vanessa.  I wanted to go to Richie’s Diner for dinner, but Eddie wanted Shogun AND since it was my birthday, we went to Shogun.  WTF? 

Honestly, I thought we were going to die.  I love Shogun, it’s like Benihana.  BUT, the chef was terrible.  He kept on dropping his knives and stuff when he was doing his thing.  When he twirled his knife, it fell twice and I actually told him, to please don’t do that anymore.  I really feel if I didn’t stop him from trying his tricks, a knife would have stabbed me in the forehead.  

Then, Vanessa drove us around for a few minutes.  She just got her permit so she was happy to drive my car.  She’s a great driver for only being 15 years old.  I had to remind her what RED means and I didn’t have her make any LEFTS and she was really good at driving straight and making rights, although she could learn to slow down a bit while making those turns.   She’s going to be a great driver one day.  In other words, I was scared SHITLESS, but she’s my baby and I love her.    

As you can see, I had a very nice and simple day and I loved it.

The best part of yesterday was hearing from my mom first thing in the morning.  My sister Rose woke up my mom earlier than usual and when the phone rang and I saw it was my mom, I said hello and she sang happy birthday to me.  It was great, because she was sounding good and alert and she was so happy.

I didn’t go to any strip clubs or get drunk and dance the night away.  I just spent a normal day seeing my family and friends.  I loved it.  The only thing I avoided that felt strange was that I didn’t do any work for the show or for the KUSI public forum. I just hung out with everyone and enjoyed their company.  I tried my best to let down and not do any calls. It was the perfect birthday, WELL for me.    

BUT, the one thing that was amazing was Facebook.  I don’t know what to say other than it was so cool to get messages all day and all night from old friends from elementary to high school to radio buddies to ex girlfriends to brand new friends to neighbors to people in the community to EVERYONE.  

I was so appreciative of all the messages.  Of course it made me miss being on the air and getting calls LIVE on the radio, but Facebook is simply amazing.  It took me a while to read through them all and I just have to say that I am so blessed to have the friends that I have and I feel so grateful for all that has happened to me this last year.

I just wanted to say THANK YOU for making yesterday really cool.  

The one gift I got yesterday is the reminder that I have really cool friends and there are people in my life and in my past that have my back.

I love to remember the days of when my brothers were alive and strong and I was playing football in the street and my mom was playing the piano, so when I hear from an old friend from that era in my life, it is really special.  I heard from hundreds of people I grew up with yesterday and that was the best gift ever.

I feel so great the morning after my birthday.    I feel yesterday was like an exclamation point  and a chance to reflect one last time at this last year.  I am so proud, but it’s time to move forward.  It’s time to move forward with everything in my life now.  Getting back to work and focusing on relationships better and moving on from certain things and being part of new things and continuing to TRY to live right and exercise.   As long as I can see the light, I will be just fine. 

The thought of what can happen in a year is exciting.   Who knows where all of us will be next year at this time!!??

Last year, I had long hair and all I thought about was radio and Jeff and Jer.   Today, my head is shaved and I’m part of many community programs and events.  Maybe  next year, I’ll have a FRO and be braiding hair in Maui. 

Thank you so much for yesterday!

Holy shit, I’m 46!

Please don’t roll your eyes okay?  BUT, I’m about to get talking about the drug problem I am very passionate about.  I just hate it when I know someone is rolling their eyes because of something I’m saying:  Okay?  Cool.

I stayed in bed this morning thinking of stuff and wondering about our kids today and how the prescription drug problem in our schools and neighborhoods got to be how it currently is.

Like, why did the oxycontin problem start in West Virginia just over 10 years ago?   Why are we behind all the east coast states in knowing any of this by several years?   Why are states like Maine and Rhode Island, and Pennsylvania HUGE with oxycontin problems with their teens?   Why did it take over 10 years for San Diego to start noticing this?

I layed in bed this morning  wondering if my enthusiasm and passion for making people aware of this, really worth my time?  Will anyone truly hear me?  Does anyone really give a shit?  Do you roll your eyes when you read my blog and I get going about this stuff?  Should I be talking about radio and Jeff and Jer?

My kids are the exact age and fit the description to be a kid in school that may try this stuff for the first time.

It’s just marijuana:  I know many parents that still get stoned.  I know many people that have the attitude that weed is not a real drug like cocaine and crystal.  I know many addicts that say, they stopped doing drugs but still get stoned. 

Marijuana is still the gateway drug and if you ask any hardcore drug addict today, they will tell you they got started smoking marijuana.

I know a girl that’s 25 that was a big time prescription drug, oxycontin, heroin addict for years and she said the day she got stoned for the first time, her life was done, because she liked it and then her friends said, oxycontin is like getting stoned TIMES 100.  So, she tried oxycontin, because she liked getting stoned, then after 2-3 times doing oxy she tried heroin, because it was cheaper then the next 5 years she was a junkie and selling all that she had and even herself at times to get high. 

I know kids that may be categorized as the popular kids at school that hear their mom’s at home with their friends saying XANAX is the best thing in the world.   They hear their mom say this, so they think going in the bathroom into the medicine cabinet and trying one of those pills mom just told her bunko friends about is okay, because mom isn’t a drug addict like you see in the movies.  It’s only xanax NOT cocaine.

Many kids that were on their death bed due to a prescription drug addiction used for the first time becauuse they thought it was okay because the doctor gave them to their parents, so they thought they couldn’t get addicted to something a doctor gave their mom.

We got to throw out everything we think we knew about drug addiction from the 70’s and 80’s, because there is a NEW SCHOOL way of doing drugs and a new face of a 2010 drug addict.

I know many people that are my age that did do the OLD SCHOOL drug thing like weed and cocaine that are clean from that era of their life, but are now seeing a shrink and they take xanax or prozac.   Those drugs are great when prescribed correctly and taken correctly, but the minute mom goes out to a Thursday night ladies from the block night out and pass around her xanax bottle for everyone can feel a little less stressed, that’s just like crushing some coke and passing around a rolled up dollar bill and snorting it.

OUR WAY OF THINKING KIND OF BLOWS RIGHT NOW!

We’re turning our kids into drug addicts right before our eyes, because what we say around them and what we are okay to see them do.

I admit I do fucked up things in front of my kids that I had no idea was messed up until recently.  I talk about my past with them, which is good to do, but sometimes I tell them the stories as if it was like scoring a touchdown in a high school football game. I glorify some of my stories about partying.  That’s going to stop.  

I sing Bob Marley songs with them that talk about getting stoned.  I used to FOR THE LONGEST TIME never censor music and I used to say that music is art and my kids can listen to anything they want, because I am an artist.   OKAY, maybe that was okay to say in the 1960’s and 1970’s Nixon era, but today I’m stopping that bullshit and I’m throwing out all the music that talks about getting high.  I can listen to the Beatles all by myself now.  Well, you know what I mean.

As I help out KUSI on putting together their week long news reports and community forum in September, my mind is all over this stuff, so please don’t roll your eyes at me okay?

By the way, I’m going to Tijuana one day very soon to see how truly easy it is to buy oxycontin without anything other than money.     I’m even going to stuff it down my pants to see if I get stopped or not.   DON’T WORRY, I’m going with cops and DEA dudes, so don’t think I’ll be in a jail down in Tecate or anything like that.

Thanks for reading this and I hope you change your ways!!!!!   I DID.

Yesterday morning, I was sitting in an unmarked DEA office building in San Diego surrounded by law enforcement and their family.  We’re all gathered in a conference room.  Everyone around me is either in their police or sheriff uniform or they all looked like Serpico. 

I was invited to this presentation on prescription drug abuse  in our schools. I’ve been working with the guy who was putting this whole thing on. His name is Dave and when I first saw his presentation a few weeks ago it inspired me to go to KUSI to tell them they needed to do a televised community forum.   So, now they are.

Today, he was showing this video to the kids of law enforcement employees, because this problem hits everyone, including their own.

Everything that I know from growing up and everything that I know from being an adult and everything I know from being on the air in San Diego has all merged together and I have the opportunity to take what is in my heart and put it into this community forum to bring awareness to kids and parents on the growing epidemic of prescription drug abuse in our San Diego schools primarily oxycontin.   

I have one full month to work along side the producers at KUSI and law enforcement and I’m taking on this project as if it’s the last thing I will ever do.   The week of September 20th, KUSI will package a few news reports and then for 2 hours the night of Tuesday September 28th on KUSI, we will have a live televised public forum.

There is a rhythm in my life right now that I can’t explain.  There are questions that I wonder about and the answers seem to fall into my lap now.  There are people in my life, I can feel in my heart if they are truly my friend or not.  I used to wonder what path I should choose in life and for my work, but I feel those paths are making their way towards me and all I have to do is take a step and I’m there.

I don’t have to ask myself what I want to do in my life anymore, because I am doing it. 

There is no coincidence that it’s exactly one year ago to the day we walked out of Clearchannel radio for the last time.  I’m reflecting on the whole year that has gone by and I am amazed that I can say without hesitation and without any frickin bullshit that this was truly the best year of my entire life.

I can’t wait to get back on the radio, but I’m having a blast right now working on all these projects.  Each thing I’m doing seems to fit naturally with the other stuff.

Yesterday, was a very emotional day for me.  In that presentation, I watched a mom talk about her son Aaron Rubin who went to Poway High School Class of 2000.  He was bigger than life back then and everyone knew him and loved him.  He was a great athlete and he was one of the so called popular kids.  BUT, Aaron Rubin did drugs.  He became addicted to oxycontin.  

Today, in 2010 Aaron is in a wheelchair and he can only communicate with 2 fingers.  1 finger for yes and 2 fingers for no.  When his mom was speaking, I made the decision right there to continue on with trying to spread the word on this terrible epidemic that is killing our children.

I also heard a 911 call from a mom in Poway a few years ago as she walked in to her son’s bedroom and found him dead from prescription drugs.

Those two things made me confirm with my heart and soul that I’m doing the right thing in my life right now.  I have a new passion to spread the word and bring awareness to kids and to parents about the NEW type of drugs that are killing our kids.

I drove off crying, because I knew what I wanted to do in my life and why I’m even on this earth.

Why is this stuff happening in my life?  Why do people call on me for advice on drugs and their children?   I don’t know why it’s happening, but I have decided to embrace it and to accept it and to help.

I’m figuring out a lot of stuff in my life.  I’m also seeing the true colors of certain people in my life.  

My kids are watching me right now.  They really are.  They’re asking questions all the time.   For the first time in a long time, I think they are proud of me.  I think they finally realized recently that I’m not just a guy that was on the radio.  I think they like that I’m working with KUSI on this community forum, because I have a feeling they see it more around their school and their neighborhood than they are letting on.

God works in mysterious ways.  I feel that I’m suppose to put all my energy into drug awareness and the KUSI community forum.  I also feel the timing of our radio show coming back is almost coincidentally on the same course.

I think I followed the path that God put before me correctly, because at this very moment, I do not question anything I am doing, it just feels right.