Jasper — The highlight of the Jan. 23 meeting of the Hamilton County Alcohol and Other Drug Prevention Coalition Partnership was a presentation by HCSO Sergeant Emily Lumpkin on ‘Needs Assessment’ for Hamilton County.

Lumpkin is program coordinator and past president of the coalition. The assessment is part of the strategic framework process of the contract the coalition has with Meridian Behavioral Healthcare and the Department of Children and Families (DCF).

Lumpkin said in her research she found specific areas of need for Hamilton County by using Florida Charts, an online resource tool to assess community health, as well as utilizing other reference sources. Binge drinking among adults and kids, smoking, and prescription drugs were the main needs, she said.

“Murder and suicide is up in Hamilton County,” said Lumpkin.

Forcible sex resulting from alcohol consumption, chlamydia from unprotected sex and repeat teen pregnancies have been increasing, as well as alcohol-related motor vehicle crashes, which have been on the rise since 2008, Lumpkin added.

Low FCAT scores, school suspensions and school violence, Lumpkin said, are also issues. The high school FCAT score, however, just went up for last year, which is a good sign.

Hamilton County is one of the poorest counties in the state, Lumpkin explained, and binge drinking among the higher income class of people who have jobs is on the rise.

“With people that don’t work we have a problem with them drinking by themselves,” said Lumpkin.

In comparison to state figures, alcohol consumption among high school age youth in Hamilton County is higher, and the most common excuse given by underage drinkers is, “Someone gave it to me.” Alcohol use in another person’s home has also gone up among underage drinkers, Lumpkin said.

An increase in marijuana use has also gone up in the county.

McDonald interjected, “As the states are considering legalizing marijuana, the message the kids are getting is it’s not dangerous. It’s okay. If they want to legalize it, then it’s okay. Nationally, we have seen an increase in the use of marijuana with our youth as this trend and discussion is going on.”

In other words, she said, that’s one of the negative effects of legalizing marijuana.

Synthetic marijuana like K2 or Spice is another problem law enforcement has been dealing with.

“Spice is very dangerous,” Lumpkin said. “I know a kid who took two puffs and she wound up in intensive care overnight.”

Judge Sonny Scaff was also at the meeting and he spoke up stating that dockets were down in both Hamilton and Madison counties and that things were kind of quiet. He did say, however, that “a lack of respect for authority” seems to be the prevalent issue among youthful repeat offenders.

“Ninety-five percent of the young people are fine,” he said. “But you do have that certain percentage. In reality it’s not their fault. There’s no direction at the house, so how do you expect a child to know how to do what’s right. You guide and direct the best you can, which is what we do.”

Scaff said by about the third time a young person is arrested they have to take stronger measures. The prevalent drug, he said, is marijuana.

“Big time in Madison,” Scaff said. “More so than Hamilton.”

Another issue he expounded on was the recent rash of residential and vehicle break-ins, which he attributes to the fact people need money. Many of them occur in broad daylight, he said.

“That’s the hard facts,” Scaff said. “They’re just trying to survive on the street. There’s no jobs. There’s no hope for jobs right now. It’s tough out there.”

When people are arrested for those crimes, Scaff said they take that into account, but they also have to take into account the property owner. For the last 60 days, Scaff said he has issued “no bond” for those offenders who break into homes, whether they stole five cents or five hundred dollars.

“Let ‘em sit there for a little while and get their attention, because people are tired of this breaking and entering,” Scaff continued. “It’s the number one way to get your head blown off if you’re breaking into someone’s house.”

Scaff said many of the offenders are being abused at home, their parents are on drugs and taking out their frustrations on the children, and many families have no food at the house, so the kids resort to stealing in order to survive.

“It’s a sad situation,” he said.

Abuse of the food pantries in the county was another issue brought up. It was stated that many folks were going shopping from one pantry to the next and gathering up all the food they could, whether they were needy or not, as well as outright thefts from the facilities, of which many are churches.



Coalition town meeting

In other news, on March 20 there will be a town meeting of the coalition in White Springs from 6:30 to 8 p.m. This will be the third year the coalition will be receiving a $500 fund amount from the federal ‘Stop Alcohol Town Hall Meeting’ organization that will go toward covering expenses for the White Springs meeting.

The focus of the town meeting will be on underage drinking, binge drinking, prescription drug abuse and treatment options in a roundtable format with guest speakers. Binge drinking among adults may also be a topic of discussion at the meeting. The location of the meeting has not yet been determined and other details, including a possible meal are still being worked out, but will be forthcoming as soon as they are finalized.

McDonald stated recent research from the Center for Disease Control (CDC) has indicated that binge drinking among adults has escalated in recent years and is worse than among youth.



Coalition member Ashley Sanders updated the group on a social media workshop she attended and the importance of using them to inform the public about meetings and events. Sanders said they now have a Twitter account, along with a Facebook page.

One thing Sanders said she learned at the workshop was how to make social media work and how to create interaction.

She said you must “use it at least an hour a day” for it to be effective.

Project Director Grace McDonald assigned Sanders and another coalition member, Chuck Burnett, to keep up both sites.