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.

I am so very proud and excited that KUSI television in San Diego has agreed to put on some news reports and ultimately a community forum about prescription drug abuse in our San Diego schools.

About a month ago, I walked in to KUSI with shorts and a tshirt and sat in the office of the GM and told him that I think his television station should put on a forum and then I told him why and I told him some stats off the top of my head and then within two minutes he stood up shook my hand and said, “Let’s do it!”

So, over the last few weeks, I’ve been working with Dave Ross of the San Diego Sheriffs, Matt Williams of the DA’s office, my friend Karin Murphy and her family and friends, and the staff at KUSI along with many individuals with various testimony on the subject of prescription drugs, primarily oxycontin and heroin in our San Diego schools.

The news reports will be aired for 7 days during the week starting on Monday September 20th on KUSI and then on Tuesday night September 28th for 2 hours we’ll have a LIVE prime time community forum about this terrible epidemic in our schools. 

So, mark down those dates on your calendar!

Saturday September 25th, Laura Cain will be honored at the Strut for Sobriety gala:   http://www.anewpathsite.org   I’ll be saying a few words about Laura that night before she walks on stage.

Saturday October 2nd at Liberty Station I was asked to emcee a walk for autism.  I was really honored that they asked me to do this. I know a few families that have children with autism and I wanted to do this.  I agreed to do this and committed Laura Cain as well. Remind me I need to tell her we’re doing this.  They want me and Laura to emcee from 7am to noon.  I think that might be a bit too long to be on stage.  I think I’ll ask them if we can just talk in the beginning and then do the walk then I’m at the Corvette Diner to eat.  Click this link to sign up:   http://www.walknowforautismspeaks.org

The Mother Goose Parade in El Cajon is on Sunday November 21st, 2010.  If you look closely on one of the floats you will see the kids from the Hopes and Dreams Academy.  The Mother Goose Parade wanted to honor the Hopes and Dreams Academy at the parade.  The theme this year is HEROES.    I’m so proud of this, because we basically just started and I know a lot of those kids that we take on trips will be smiling from ear to ear when they are on the float waving like a Rose Bowl Parade queen.  Clark Bartram and I think this is really cool for the kids.

http://www.hopesanddreamsacademy.com

We have a few things lined up for the Hopes and Dreams kids over the next few weeks.   A trip to the Olympic Training Center in Chula Vista, Watching live dental surgeries, cooking with the Busalacchi’s, and a trip to Ocean Enterprises.

October 25 would have been Amber Dubois’ 16th birthday.  Her mom Carrie, who I love and is a pain in the butt has asked me to figure out a cool little tribute she can do in honor of Amber.  Carrie and I are fighting together on what she can do.  Carrie’s a trip.

I’m going to the Emmy’s with Laura at the end of the month.  It will air at 5pm Sunday August 29th.  It’s going to be fun going to the show with Laura. I’m trying hard to get my friend Anita to go with us too.  She’s on a waiting list to get in, but I think she has a great chance to go.  This is Anita and Laura in their dresses they may be wearing that night.  Laura and Anita went looking for dresses together the other day.  I wasn’t allowed to go with them. 

Thursday December 16, 2010 will be Jeff and Jer’s Breaking and Entering Christmas featuring my hoodlum buddies from Chula Vista. In about 4 weeks, I actually start working on this.    

Last year, we still did it.  That was pretty cool that Sophie 103.7 just went ahead and put me on last Christmas and continued the breaking and entering tradition. 

Somewhere in between all these dates and events I just mentioned, we will be back on the air.  The minute we are able to announce it all, we will and you will hear about it.

Yesterday, I spoke to everyone on the show and we are all geared up and ready to go.    Something is going to happen.  I never like to say the word SOON anymore, because it got old after a while, but today I can honestly say, the announcement is coming soon.

This Friday August 20th is one year to the day we walked out of our last radio job and the last time we did a show together.  I’m happy with all the things that happened over the year, but you know what?  It’s time to get back on the air.  I purposely never try to mention anything about going back, but since things are moving fast, I guess I can say, HOLY FRICKIN BALLS, it’s been one frickin year.

I’m glad we’re coming back soon, because I think I’m driving my friend Jamie nuts.  I need to get back to doing what I really do for a living, because she is ready to rip my head off.   I am kind of close to 3 people right now.  Laura, Anita, and Jamie.  Laura because she’s Laura and we just talk.  Anita, because we workout all the time.  Jamie, because she actually somehow just represents this year off.  Jamie was in my life the whole way this entire year.  

I actually can check my text message stats and see how many times I text back and forth to people.   Since March, here’s who I text back and forth to the most.

Jamie:   6,262

Anita:     4,987

Laura:    2,825

Vanessa:  2,221

Eddie:   1,689  

I don’t know what this means other than I think I text message alot.  I showed Laura the numbers the other day and she actually complained how she is #3.    Eddie and Vanessa’s numbers are actually bigger because when I text them together in the same text it doesn’t show up individually.  SO, in fact, maybe my kids together are above Laura and that would make Laura drop to #4 or #5 in reality. 

My mom is doing very well.  Both my sisters are doing well too.  Vanessa had her first driver’s training class yesterday and she drove around with an instructor for the first time.  She’s officially on my insurance as of yesterday.  It was kind of a moment when I called in to Wawanesa and said that my daughter is ready to drive.  It was almost like a ceremony to move her up from the children box on the computer screen to OTHER DRIVERS on my insurance policy.  

Eddie has one more official AM SLAM competition to complete the summer tour.  Saturday August 28th, he has a competition in Carmel Valley.  Eddie should also be featured in Fuel TV’s new pollution segment that features  young kids that skate in 2011.  

I think that’s all the dates you need to know.  OH wait, my sister Lola turns 61 on Saturday.  Hmmm what else is there?  Oh yeah, my birthday is Tuesday of next week.   

Goo Goo Goo Joob!

Friday afternoon, I went to see my mom.  She means the world to me.  We were talking and watching TV together and I was making her laugh and then all of a sudden she started talking a little bit of Guamanian to me then out of the blue she talked about me driving her to the ranch to check on the piano for her.

My mom every once in a while goes back to Guam in her mind and she talks about the ranch she once had and the piano she grew up playing.  When she started doing this a while ago, I used to get mad at her and say, mom we’re in Chula Vista, not Guam.  This is now, not then.  BUT, over the years, I just go with it and tell her we will drive up tomorrow and I talk to her about the piano and all that is around the ranch.

It’s so tough to watch your mom get older and go through this.  I went home Friday afternoon and just thought about my mom.  My mom is the one that inspires me as I go through the struggles of taking care of my responsibilities even without a job.  I either can lay down in a fetal position or think of what my mom went through and say to myself, I have it easier and if she could do it, I can do it, because I’m her son.

I was home  just thinking about her and not really wanting to see anyone or do anything.  Jamie stopped by for a few minutes which was cool.

I mentioned this before recently, but I don’t know what it is about the universe and my mom, but my mom knows how I’m feeling, even if  she’s 20 miles away in Chula Vista.

Saturday morning comes around and I’m feeling a bit stressed over a few things.  I’m in a down mood.  So, I call my mom and I get ready to sound up and in a good mood for her when she comes to the phone.   She comes to the phone and I say, “Hi mom!”

My mom starts crying for 2 long minutes.  I mean, crying like she was feeling sorry for me.  I was trying to tell her all is well, but she kept saying, “Are you okay Tomas.” then continued to cry.   My sister was there and she’s trying to get my mom to laugh and she’s trying to make my mom to settle down, but she continued to cry.  

I sat there shocked, because I realized just by my voice saying, ”Hi, mom”  she knew what I was feeling.  So, I just sat down stunned and amazed and just called out for her to please stop.  She felt my heart, she really did. She felt it with just two words that came out of my mouth. 

I don’t get it.  I just don’t get how that happens.

I used to fight or at least try to fight my brothers when I was a little boy when they would call me a “mama’s boy”….I guess I was attached to my mom, even when I was a little boy. 

I do know when I was a teenager, I wasn’t an angel at all and I take back all the messed up things I have ever done in my life where I worried my mom.

Today, my mom is my hero.  Although, she is weak, she is still strong and obviously in tune and in touch with her mind and my mind too.   

I just want my mom to smile.  Anyone whoever comes in contact with my mom feels much better when they leave.  Being touched by my mom is almost spiritual.

My mom!

Hey, I’m going to the Emmy’s in two weeks and I’m taking Laura!  I have about 16 days to lose over 100 pounds.  I think I can do it, IF I take a Bikram Yoga class 7 times a day, but I can’t miss a day and I have to eat birdfeed and sleep in a sauna.  I can do this!

This is last year at the Emmy’s with Jen. Jen’s a friend of the family.  When I look at this picture, I trip out, because I look really goofy and it’s like a week after we left our radio station and little did I know at this moment what kind of year I was about to have.

I wish Jamie wanted to go to the Emmy’s, but she only wants to go if she’s guaranteed to meet Matt Damon.     I’m still trying to get Anita to go as well.

Jamie, Laura, and Anita are all taking me out for my birthday.  They said, they would run bleachers with me that morning and go out to eat.  Seriously, if on my birthday I see all three of them running up and down bleachers with me, that would be really cool. I really like running bleachers.  My legs are getting stronger and stronger, but I  just can’t seem to get rid of my belly.     

Maybe one of the main reasons why I can’t get rid of my belly and chins is that there’s food in front of me in every single picture above.     

The weekend of the 28th and 29th is a huge weekend.  I met Jamie one year ago on August 28th and Laura is going to be honored that night at this event called Strut for Sobriety.  Sunday, the 29th, are the Emmy’s!

Hey, check out Eddie and Vanessa!!!

Their mom took these pictures obviously at the Hotel Del Coronado!  I don’t think Eddie and Vanessa know that my dad worked at the Hotel Del in the 60’s.  When I go to the Hotel Del, I get the chills, because it actually does trigger memories.  I love the flag picture of Eddie!  That’s Vanessa telling her mom what she thinks of me.  http://www.jttpsite.com

Coincidentally, here’s a picture of my mom telling me what she thinks of me too!

You know what?  My mom’s the best.  I don’t know what it is in the universe that works things out, but my mom sure knows me. My mom senses how I feel from 20 miles away.  I can’t fake my mom out.   I am very happy in my life, but I have stress just like anyone else and I have things going on that I wonder and worry about from my kids to my un- relationship to work to everything and my mom asks me about each one of them the moment and time I am most thinking about it. 

She calls Jamie ”The Teacher Lady”.    I can have Jamie on my mind and my mom will pick up the phone and the first thing she’ll say is, “Where’s the teacher lady?”

The other day, my mom called me asking, “What station are you going to be working at, the nurse here wants to know!”   I spit out my food when she said that. Even my mom asks me that question!!!

Just yesterday, I was thinking about Eddie and Vanessa because I was in a production planning meeting for the community forum that we’re putting on about prescription drug abuse in our schools.  I was listening to these kids talk about their abuse and when I got in the car, I was thinking about how to talk to my kids about what I just learned. I’m stopped at a red light, so I call my mom to say hello and she says to me, “You need to keep an eye on Sean and Tosha!”  My mom gets mixed up with who’s kids belong to who.  BUT, she laughs and says, “You need to keep an eye on Eddie and Vanessa, Tomas!”     

I swear I think my mom feels my heart.  I really do.

Her name is Jewele and it’s pronounced like Julie.  She’s only 12 years old and she lives in the Encanto/Skyline park area of San Diego.

Very early Sunday morning August 8, 2010 her mom was getting ready to go to church.  While she was getting ready to go to church she was laughing, cuddling, and playing with her daughter Jewele.

Jewele was very happy that morning and she was not in any trouble whatsoever and she was not on restriction at all for anything.

Her mom leaves to go to church at 6am and comes back and Jewele is gone!  She’s missing.  The longest time she has ever been gone before was only 4 maybe 6 hours. 

They called the police and Jewele was immediately classified as a RUNAWAY.  By the way, so was Amber Dubois back on 2-13-09.

NOTHING HAPPENED AT ALL for the next couple of days.   The mom did have friends and family make flyers and search around the area.  They were waiting and praying that the authorities were right and that the little girl would be coming home soon after a few days of being a “RUNAWAY”.

The mom’s employer, a man named Scott Silverman contacted me early Wednesday morning to help spread the word.  I asked if everything was all set up for Jewele and if the authorities had everything in place for Jewele to be found.   He said NO and that she was classified as a runaway!

Amber’s face and Chelsea’s face went through my mind and I got him in touch with a woman named Fiona Oberrick who is currently on vacation.  Fiona works for the Laura Recovery Center.   http://www.LRCF.net

Fiona is a beautiful person that I hope you will never have to meet in person or talk to on the phone.  Fiona is the person that helps when your child is missing.  Fiona spoke to the boss and then eventually the mom and then soon after an up to date flyer with more information was made and posted everywhere, I started calling the media for them, the mom went to the police station to demand her daughter’s status be changed to missing.

Fiona helped out so much and consulted the family on what to do from her cell phone and while on vacation! 

Over 80 hours after Jewele was classified as a runaway she gets re-classified to missing and all the alerts and procedues PROPERLY get put into place (over 3 days later).

She’s 12 years old.  She should be classified as a 12 YEAR OLD MISSING!!!!!!!!!!!   Regardless, if there is a gut feeling that she ranaway, she is gone.   LET’S FIND HER!   Authorities and the community will not be mad at all if we spend time doing a grid search and then she comes strolling along home after a few days of being gone.  I WILL TAKE THAT SCENARIO and not be mad that I spent a few hours searching.    I want to SEARCH NOT RECOVER!!!!

Let’s pray she does come strolling home!  Let’s pray she does walk home and her mom gets the privilege to put her little girl on restriction.  Let’s pray for that outcome, but let’s not have these policies in place as they are currently to sit on our ass as she is MISSING and do nothing.

I hope she is still in the area and I hope she is using her cell phone and going on her myspace and twitter and giving authorities clues to where she may be.  That’s what I hope for.

Why does it take 3 long days to start doing something!?    Throw out the RUNAWAY status or change the policies asap!

Why does it take the mom’s employer to contact an out of work radio producer on Facebook to get the ball rolling?

WTF!?

I have a son going in to 8th grade and I have a daughter going in to 10th grade and you know what?  That scares the shit out of me and here’s why.  There’s a big time drug problem going on in our schools.  NOT, like it’s been before but over the last couple of years the problem has shifted from a little marijuana and crystal to PRESCRIPTION DRUGS, specifically oxycontin, xanax, escstacy, and even heroin.  Yes, heroin has made it’s way back in to society.  Heroin is not just a 1960’s classic rock legend problem.

The face of a drug addict in your mind probably comes from someone in my era.  I grew up in the 70’s and 80’s. I am no angel and all my friends or family that were addicts knew what we were getting in to.   You probably picture a hardcore addict as someone down and out in the hood, BUT this is 2010 and the brand new face of an addict is categorized as “THE POPULAR KIDS” in school.   Yes, the popular kids, the cheerleaders, the yearbook staff, the jocks in most upper and middle class schools are perhaps doing these prescription drugs and unlike it was in my era, these kids in 2010 have no idea what they’re getting in to.

Here’s where the problem is:   I know many friends of mine today that are parents just like me that go to counseling and they get prescribed xanax and other drugs that are correctly given to them by their doctor or counselor.  These drugs that are given correctly works wonders, but what has happened is that our teens are thinking if mom and dad are taking these pills and I can reach for them in the medicine cabinet, I guess that’s okay and that’s not truly being a drug addict, because a drug addict goes in alleys or in bad parts of town and drug addicts are poor people from the hood, not in Poway or Carmel Valley———WRONG!

These prescription drugs are LETHAL when people abuse them and take them when not prescribed correctly.   There are kids that barely just got their license, right at this very moment you are reading this are making plans to go to Tijuana for a few hours and get drugs from a FARMACIA off of Revolucion!   These kids that are doing this live in good neighborhoods in town and traditionally get good grades, but since they’ve started on their pathway to addiction, their grades have been slipping and they are forgetting to take showers and their appearance isn’t as cute as before and they are sleeping in the afternoons, even on gorgeous San Diego sunny days.

Have you talked to your son or daughter lately?   Have you talked to your kid in middle school or high school?  Have you really talked to them?   Well, I have and I even spoke to other kids their age and it is absolutely SCARY.

I know an 8th grader that told me that he or she knows many kids that take drugs.  NOT just marijuana, but ecstacy and xanax and stuff that is easy to get in their own home.

I know a 10th grader that told me recently that he or she knows a few kids at school that do heroin and that oxy is in their school and ecstacy is something they can get at lunch as they eat their potato chips before the bell rings.

Oxycontin is huge in schools, especially in San Diego.  The area that has the biggest usage of oxy and heroin according to the oxy task force and the DA’s office is up along and around the 56 freeway.   This means that Westview, Mt. Carmel, Torrey Pines, Poway are huge with oxy and prescription drugs.  This is a fact.  It is also huge in Fallbrook and schools in the east county.  

OXY is an expensive drug and that’s why it’s an epidemic in the so called “rich parts of town” in our San Diego schools.

Why is heroin in schools in 2010?   Heroin is my expertise because my brothers and cousin were addicts.  Never in my wildest dreams I would have guessed that heroin would make it’s way back as big as it is today.

Oxy is synthetic heroin basically.  Oxy is expensive so when a kid is hooked, he hears from others that it’s less expensive to try heroin.  You can get the same feeling and it costs less.   LITTLE DO THESE KIDS in 2010 know that they are digging their own grave when they take heroin.

During my life, I always knew that heroin was bad.  There are classic rock songs telling us all not to do heroin.  Today, in 2010, they have hip hop songs that glorify Oxy, Ecstacy, Xanax, and even Heroin.

Parents as you shop for brand new clothes for your kids this weekend and you sign them up for sports and you acknowledge they are in ASB or the yearbook staff, you need to remind yourself that they are going to hear about these drugs from their friends.  They really are.  You need to talk to your kids about prescription drugs and tell them just because a doctor gave you these to use that they can’t take them, because it’s just as bad as doing cocaine or crystal. 

How many times have you heard a friend of yours say, “Oh xanax is the best!?”   Well, your kids are hearing that too.  You may be going to a shrink appointment which is awesome and you may be a candidate to take xanax or something similar, but watch where you put it and watch what you say in front of your kids, because they are able to get these at school now.

We need to bring awareness and we need to wake up our kids, parents, teachers, and everyone.

KUSI has agreed to put together a community forum in a few weeks on everything I just said.  If you have a question or if you need help or if you think your kid is using or if you think I’m full of shit with this, please email me:  littletommy@san.rr.com

A few days ago, I talked about “hell freezing over” when my kids and I along with their mom took a tour together over at Macbeth Footwear in Carlsbad.   Never would I have imagined that after our divorce in 2003 that I would be walking side by side with her along with the kids.

If hell froze over last week, it froze over TIMES 10 yesterday when I went to get Eddie and Vanessa to go shopping!

I started off yesterday morning running bleachers with my friend Anita and her daughter Taylor.  We did about 45 minutes at Escondido High School and then Eddie called asking if I can come up earlier to get them and maybe go to IHOP.   So, I did.

I’m at IHOP waiting for them as their mom pulls in to drop them off. I get out of the car and I’m in  a good mood and I say, “Wanna join us?”  Everyone kind of giggled, but I said it again, “Really, would you like to join us?”   The kids stopped in their tracks as they realized it was a serious invitation and for some reason kind of in slow motion, “She says, okay, but let’s not get too weird in there.” Then we all 4 started laughing.   To myself,  I’m thinking, “Holy balls, is this really happening?”

I don’t know if it was the weather and the time and the placement of all things in the world, but at that very moment as we were walking in just us 4 and I’m holding the door open for everyone, it was a trip, but it felt like a good thing and I kept on saying to myself, “why couldn’t it have been this way from the beginning?” 

My kids are funny and they are very quick, because as we walked in to be seated, Eddie and Vanessa run to the table to sit side by side leaving Dannell and I to sit together. We were both very quick to say, “Ha ha, but no!”

So, I sit next to Vanessa and she sits next to Eddie across from me.  Eddie was tripping out the most and it almost looked like he was going to pass out.

It was very pleasant and actually fun and funny.  The kids had the best time.  I mean, hello!!??   We were, for many years, the stereotypical divorce you see in the movies.  It’s 7 years later and it doesn’t do anyone any good to continue the stupidity on both sides.  Too bad it had to take so long, but it got there.

It was nice to see Eddie and Vanessa laughing and smiling and tripping out and calling all their friends, saying, “Guess, who we’re eating breakfast with together?”   Eddie called his friend Philip on the phone at the table to tell him and you could hear Philip’s voice over the phone saying, “NO SHIT!?”  

You can read this and say to me, “Oh, you should always have been civil and friends with each other, it’s good for the kids to have parents that do that.”  You can say that to me and I of course know that, but LIFE happens and too bad it didn’t happen that way.

I think it also goes back to the simple premise of surrounding yourself with good things and good people.  Jamie has a great relationship with her ex husband.  It’s picture perfect.  I see how she talks so nice about him and honestly that stuff rubs off on you. If I would have been in a relationship where that person talked crap about their ex, I am most certain, I would not have said out loud yesterday, “Wanna join us?”   I think you just have to surround yourself with all things good.    

If that tour of Macbeth and yesterday at IHOP was any sign of the future of being friendly to eachother, there is nothing more that would make me happier.

I smile as I write this, because I saw Eddie and Vanessa during breakfast yesterday happy that we were all eating breakfast together.

I get a lot of people talking to me about the things that I have been part of over the last year.   I am proud of all that stuff, but yesterday being able to sit together for breakfast may have to be on top of the list of things achieved over the last year.

I mean, who would have thought?

It took 7 years to get there.  My kids are okay.  My kids were smiling yesterday seeing their mom and dad together.

P.S. I did pay for the bill, but I will deduct it when I write her the next check.  

Today’s blog is sponsored by:  JOURNEY THROUGH TIME PHOTOGRAPHY!   http://www.jttpsite.com

When Jamie was in Africa a few weeks ago, she picked up a rock that was on it’s side. She was amazed when she realized the rock was shaped just like Africa!

I love this picture!  I love how her hands are shaped like a heart and the rock does look like Africa.  The one thing you may not notice, but I will point out is that this was taken the afternoon she was getting ready to go see Adam Lambert in concert so in honor of Adam, she painted her fingernails black.  You can see her right thumbnail, so this beautiful rock shaped like Africa has a touch of Adam Lambert in it!!!!!?????

Ya know, Heart for Africa is the organization through Jamie’s church she went to Swaziland with. She had the best journey of her life during those quick 10 days.  She came back with so much love in her heart and soul that it’s amazing to see.

World Vision has been calling on me and Jeff and Jer for a couple of years to do the same trip with listeners.  I never really took it seriously when they would call me, but now I am.  I am totally thinking about doing a trip with them or with Heart for Africa.

If I ever get to Africa, you know I’ll be looking on the ground to find my own Africa rock.     

Emily’s son Reed.  Forever, I will always think of Reed as the baby that came in to this world during the time we were off the air. He is so handsome.  Emily already looks like she can be a bikini model and shows no evidence of having a baby recently.

I wish I would have wrote “And Tommy Sablan as the Beaver” on this cement block as you walk on to the football field at Mt. Carmel High School.  The construction workers told me and Anita it was cool to do it, so we engraved our names on the posts as you walk in to the stadium.  So, if you are ever at a football game at Mt. Carmel, stop by and say hello to my cement block.

Okay, listen:   Coming up in a few weeks on KUSI television, I am helping to produce a community forum on the growing prescription drug problem going on in our schools.  It’s an upper class problem, but is now everywhere in town and at every school.  NOT just with the stoners and the surfers, it’s with the so called stereotyped “POPULAR KIDS AND ATHLETES”  that are the faces of the new addict in 2010.

I was at a meeting yesterday that I put together that had Dave Ross from the oxycontin task force and Matt Williams a deputy district attorney giving a presentation on all the stats and facts to the KUSI suits and producers.  It’s something I needed them to see before they could help figure out the best way to map out this forum.  There were some producers in the room that were also parents of teens and each and everyone of them had tears in their eyes and they all wanted to go home and confront their child and talk to them about the prevention of drug use in 2010, which is NOT a bong and roach clip anymore, it’s what’s in YOUR medicine cabinet at home.

I am so happy to be part of a group of people that will WAKE UP and knock some sense into San Diego parents, teens, and school faculty over this epedimic that is growing by the day.

The following is a story that came out just yesterday in the Sacramento Bee.   My friend Paula sent it to me NOT EVEN realizing that I am also putting together a forum on this very subject.

FROM THE SACRAMENTO BEE August 3, 2010 

Kim Box knew that her teenage daughter was going to the occasional party, but she didn’t worry that the studious senior would stumble.

Box had assumed she would easily make the step to one of the five colleges that had accepted her. Box assumed wrong.

Her daughter connected with people who were into drugs, and she started drinking and using drugs, too. Heavily.

The 17-year-old’s interest in academics waned. Then came a car wreck and a ticket for driving under the influence.

Parents all around the Sacramento region learn daily that drugs can derail the life of the high-achieving child, the popular child, their child. I talked to Box and others to ask them for advice for parents who fear the worst, for parents in the midst of this challenge or for parents like me who believe in being prepared.

I got to thinking about this after my colleague Cynthia Hubert reported last week that an increasing number of teens are being treated for OxyContin addiction here in Sacramento.

Yes, parents, prescription drugs can be just as dangerous, and the illicit use of such drugs among teenagers is raging. One in five high schoolers said they have taken a prescription drug without a doctor’s prescription, according to last year’s National Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which is conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Illicit drug use is highest among teenagers and young adults. In 2008, the most recent year for which figures are available, 19 percent of teens ages 12 to 17 and a third of young adults ages 18 to 25 reported using illicit drugs, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.

Box told me: “Parents have old information about drugs. They think it’s like it was 20 years ago, and it’s not. It’s like a perfect storm – they’re easy to get, more addictive, and what happens? (Teens) start taking them and don’t realize that it’s not just a momentary thing that they can walk away from.”

We parents need to be armed with the right information and with the right language to talk with our kids – not just one talk. An ongoing dialogue.

Exactly what the conversation will sound like will change depending on the circumstances, age of the child and the parent/child relationship, but the talk should be supportive, not negative, said Thomas Kurowski, a licensed clinical social worker who works with families at his private Sacramento practice.

“Talk to kids honestly and openly about all kinds of things in a way that’s going to empower the kids to make good decisions and avoid the kind of pitfalls that children can fall into,” he said.

If a parent suspects or knows their child is using drugs, don’t avoid talking to them. Challenge the teen to talk about it: What are they using? Why are they using it? Go with them to look up the facts about this drug.

“It’s the parent’s role to not prevent their kids from making mistakes, but to support them in making the correction,” Kurowski said.

Drug testing also may be a good option, said Christy Crandell, administrative director for Full Circle Treatment Center, an outpatient drug and alcohol program in Roseville.

“Explain to your teen that you love him so much, you’re willing to do whatever it takes to keep him safe,” she urged. “Early intervention is the best chance for successful intervention.”

If the teen gets in trouble with the law, don’t save the child from punishment. Kids aren’t the only ones who can make the wrong choice here. This could be the wake-up call your child needs.

“If there is a monetary fine, make them earn the money to pay for it,” Crandell suggested.

And arm yourself with as much information as possible. Parents can find help and support in classes like the Parent Project, a 10-week course that Crandell helps run at the treatment center, or through groups like Pathway to Prevention, which holds forums on teen drug use and addiction.

“Parents think ‘Not my kid,’ but please come and listen and get educated about what’s going on in the community,” said Box, whose daughter has been her inspiration.

The former Hewlett- Packard executive helped start Pathway to Prevention, a local nonprofit organization that helps educate families about teenage drug and alcohol addiction.

“You get to a point of being so worried (that) you’re in a constant state of fear for your child,” Box said.

She didn’t want to disclose her daughter’s name since, after years of drifting in and out of rehab, the 21-year-old has now been sober almost a year and was recently promoted at work.

“She’s doing well,” Box said. “I’m proud of her.”

Box’s Pathway to Prevention has just released a roughly 9-minute trailer for “Collision Course – Teen Addiction Epidemic,” a documentary they’re seeking funding to complete.

After watching the trailer posted online at www. pathwaytoprevention.org, I am hoping they get the documentary made. It would air on KVIE in California and, later, nationwide.

I sat motionless in my chair as a 20-year-old El Dorado Hills girl shot heroin into her neck and another teenager talked about intentionally getting pregnant at 16 in an attempt to force herself to stay sober.

By the final scenes, as Tiffany Noel Chapman’s mother tended her daughter’s grave, tears were clouding my eyes.

Tiffany had broken her neck in a serious car accident in high school and had gotten hooked on pain medication.

Photos from her final trip to the hospital in 2004 showed her lying in a bed, her eyes a blistering, blood red. Her liver, essentially, had exploded. She was just 27 years old.

As parents, we have to remain engaged, involved and inquisitive as our children head into the ‘tween and teenage years. It means sacrificing energy and time.

But isn’t it better than the ultimate sacrifice?