A special agent of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Chicago Field Division will give a presentation this month about the drug and substance use issues that are currently affecting those in the Lincoln-Way area.
The presentation will include a drug-sniffing dog demonstration and the opportunity to talk one-on-one with DEA Special Agent Greg Czaczkowski. The session is at 7 p.m. Feb. 25 at New Lenox Village Hall’s Community Room, 1 Veterans Parkway.
“We wanted to create a presentation in the evening to try to make it convenient for parents to come out,” said Dan Martin, the safe community coordinator for the Safe Communities America Coalition.
In the past, Czaczkowski has presented to students at Lincoln-Way high schools, organizers said.
“Oftentimes we find although the schools are doing a wonderful job with these presentations in school during school hours, a lot of times the parents they’re not getting the same information passed along,” Martin said.
Martin said the presentation is not planned in response to any outstanding drug or substance use issues in Lincoln-Way area schools.
“We’re just very proactive,” he said.
In the past, the Safe Communities America Coalition participated in local events such as a vaping forum, stop the bleed trainings and Narcan trainings.
“We try to address all these issues,” Martin said. “The list goes on of all the different initiatives and types of education that we provide the community. This is just another example.”
Also at the event, the Heroin Epidemic Relief Organization will have a display of items from its Hidden in Plain Sight trailer, which aims to inform people of the types of paraphernalia and identify how various items are used to conceal drugs.
“Whether it’s marijuana, whether it’s heroin, whether it’s vaping, this DEA agent is going to try to address all those ideas and create an atmosphere where if you ever wanted to ask question about drugs or if you ever wanted to ask a DEA agent a question, this is the opportunity to do it,” Martin said.
Registration is encouraged at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/free-dea-drug-education-presentation-tickets-91922545809.
Martin said more than 50 people have already registered for the presentation.
Organizers said those that register and attend could win a DEA “swag bag.”
The presentation is hosted by the village of New Lenox, Safe Communities America Coalition and the Drug Enforcement Administration Chicago Field Division.