Free Drug Check Kits for Parents
Parents in Clayton County who think their kids may be using drugs now have a way to check it out for free.
The sheriff's department is giving away 500 take-home kits as part of its new crackdown on drug crime in the county.
The drug kits cost about $4,500 but tax-payers didn't pay a dime. The drug dealers did, with their seized assets. It is all part of the Sheriff Victor Hill's new plan to get drugs out of the county.
It would be easy if Clayton County Sheriff's Deputy Tevis Harris could simply watch the world go by through the windshield of his patrol car. But he's learned over the years, that the best way to deal with the crime and violence is to meet it head on.
"Over here at the sheriff's office we're more proactive," said Harris. "We're taking the streets back. We're trying to make this a decent place to stay again."
That's why starting Wednesday, the Clayton County Sheriff's Department is mounting a full court press against crime.
"Everyone knows that 80 percent of all crime is drug-related so what we want to do is simply remove the drug trade from Clayton County," said Hill. "We're going to find every drug house, put it on a list and we're going to go shut each one down one by one."
An important part of that plan is inside a little brown box a take home drug kit that the department is giving out free to parents who want to see if their kids are on drugs.
"We think that this may help parents identify if their kids; their teenagers, have a drug problem, by using this simple drug testing kit," said Hill. "So what we simply did was purchase the kit and we're going to give it to every parent in Clayton County who wants to test their kids for drugs."
In addition, the department will also help refer parents to treatment centers, to get their kids the help they need.
"This helps us because we don't want kids going into these drug houses, because we're going to be hitting every drug house in this county," said Hill. "Make no mistake we want the drug dealers to know it's just a matter of time before we come pay you a visit."
Anyone who lives in Clayton County and wants one of the take-home drug kits, can simply go to the Clayton County Sheriff's Department at 9157 Tara Boulevard and ask for one.
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