In an effort to squelch bad habits before they start, Monroe County Coroner Vicki Koerber organized a drug forum at Gibault Catholic High School last Tuesday.

It was the first time such an event had taken place in the school, and attendees could’ve heard a pin drop by the end of the presentation.

Panelists included Koerber, Michael Shah of the Drug Enforcement Agency, Waterloo resident Shelby Mathes and Detective Sergeant Jason Donjon of the Columbia Police Department.

Koerber said she started bringing in people to talk to students about drugs because of the numbers she is seeing in the county.

“It’s saddening to the point where we needed to get some information out to the community,” she said. “When it gets to me, it’s way too late. Families are destroyed, and I usually have a body I’m dealing with.”

She stressed to students that they have decisions to make, and urged them to make the right ones.

“Heroin affects the cells in your brain and changes them,” she said. “The first thing an addict thinks about each day is how they can get their fix that day.”

Koerber said she wanted to bring in people who had personal stories concerning drugs to show the students what the effects can be.

Donjon presented first, talking about the basics of heroin: what it is, how it’s done, etc.

Though he said most people won’t go home and decide to do heroin out of the blue, he is worried about the “legal form” of heroin: prescription pain pills.

“When I went to high school, it was just weed and alcohol that was around,” he said. “But I’ve been hearing stories in this area of kids taking and even snorting these pills at parties, and before they know it, they’re addicted.”

He said the next step after that is to go the “cheaper route,” which is heroin.

“Every time I talk to someone who’s been on heroin, that’s where they say they get their start,” he said.

Donjon said he’s heard of addicts going into houses in the county and rummaging through medicine cabinets to get their fix.

“The pills get expensive – $50, $80 a day,” he said. “But heroin is $10 or $20 for a daily use.”

Donjon told the story of his first encounter with a heroin case where he pulled over and arrested a man who had all the equipment on him. The man went to prison for three years since he was a repeat offender.

“Three years and one day later, I pulled the same guy over. He told me he was clean for all three years, but thought about heroin every single day,” Donjon said. “As soon as he got out – the same day – he started using. It’s the worst drug I’ve ever seen.”

Donjon is the DARE instructor in Columbia and has also been teaching a DARE extension program for sophomores at Columbia High School.

Shah spoke to students on a personal level, detailing his nephew’s ongoing battle with addiction.

“He was just like you,” he told the Gibault audience. “Played sports, got normal grades.”

One Christmas a couple of years ago, the cash Shah’s family usually gives to the younger kids was missing.

“He took it,” Shah said. “About a month later, we got a courtesy call from the Illinois State Police at 3 a.m. My nephew, a blond, blue-eyed white kid, was on State Street in East St. Louis. He was naked and taped up behind a building, barely breathing.”

Shah went on to tell the story of his nephew going through rehab four times. His nephew is still alive, but struggling with addiction every single day, Shah said.

“I know I’m going to get a call someday telling me my nephew’s dead,” he said. “He got into it starting with prescription pills. Just don’t even try it.”

Mathes closed out the presentation with a story about his 23-year-old grandson.

“I’m doing this because if it saves one of you, it’s worth it,” he said.

Mathes said he’s seen his grandson dead on arrival twice and curled up in the fetal position with a needle in his neck.

“He’s been to three rehab centers, but told me he got more drugs in rehab than he did on the street,” Mathes said. “He’s been clean for 49 weeks now. He gets a shot every month that costs $2,000.”

Mathes said his grandson has the heart of a 50-year-old because of his habits.

“He’s been a mess,” Mathes said. “Don’t put your families through it. Don’t even try it.”