School continues fight against designer drugs

"We've seen deaths, we've see a lot of kids die from these drugs," said concerned resident Jerry Reid.

Bath salts, fake weed, all originally marketed at convenient stores as the legal and safe alternative to street drugs.

"A lot of people have said they're just going to do it once, and that's all they did because that was it, they died from it," said Reid.

Reid works with young lads struggling with addiction.  She came to Wednesday night's forum to lean more about the affects of designer drugs, drugs Illinois Deputy General Mike Hood says aren't as safe and legal as people think.

"There's no research, the chemicals are completely unknown," said Hood.

Hood came to speak to people at Hononegah High School about the importance of being aware of these drugs, and how to stop them from getting in the hands of young adults.

"The more we educate people and the more we help people understand how dangerous they are, the more you are going to see it move away from mainstream," said Hood.

Hononegah High School has been a leader in the area for combating the use of designer drugs, but school leaders there say students are still using them, and concerns haven't gone away.

"I think the kids are more educated," said Assistant Superintendant Billy Louis.  "And from some of the feedback we got last year, the kids are starting to understand how dangerous it is."

Dangers that school leaders are hoping parents pick up on, and communicate with their kids, whether they suspect them of using synthetic drugs or not.

"We need the kids to make the right choice," said Louis, a little effort that can make all the difference.

"You can have so much fun without the drugs, and the alcohol, so much fun," said Reid.