Rotary Program: 11/03/04

Program Chairperson: Melissa Hopkins

Speaker: Trooper Scott Hopkins, Kentucky State Police

Scott is originally from Elkhorn City, Ky. but now resides with his wife, Melissa and their two daughters, Hannah and Brittany at Raccoon, Ky. He served in the U.S. Army, the Army reserve and the National Guard since 1986 and became a Kentucky State Police officer in 1990. He has served as a street-level narcotics officer, a general patrol officer, and currently serves Post 9 as the Public Affairs officer. He has been trained as one of two hostage negotiators, a child passenger safety instruction officer, and a Kentucky law enforcement instructor. Scott serves on the YMCA Board, the Kentucky State Police Honor Guard and the Pikeville Rotary Club.

Scott's presentation today focused on the problem of drugs in most of our local communities. He showed a slide show of the many drugs that are found on the street today and as he made reference to certain ones, the pictures and facts concerning them were displayed for all the audience to see. He spoke primarily of the need for leadership in the many local communities served by Post 9. He urged us to look at ourselves and the capacities we have for leading others and take advantage of every opportunity to provide the leadership in our homes, our businesses, and in our communities. Specifically, he stated that the greatest need for this leadership is in the fight against illegal drugs that touches every family in some way or another. Scott also urged every one of us to get involved by giving information about any suspicious activity that we know about to the police so that these dealers, users, and traffickers can be brought to justice and the help and rehabilitation can be provided for those who need it. Serving such a wide area in Pike, Floyd, Johnson, Martin, and Magoffin Counties, 60 sworn personnel have handled over 5,000 criminal cases, answered more than 36,000 calls for service, and opened more than 228 drug investigations so far this year. The Special Investigation Unit involves four officers from this area, who, along with other officers from the Lexington area, are continually working to infiltrate the drug rings and local buying and selling of illegal drugs. The enormous volume of cash that is involved in drug trafficking is staggering as evidenced in a recent bust that netted over 400 lbs. of processed marijuana and $467,000.00. Scott says that as long as this business remains so lucarative, it will always be a problem to deal with. While Oxycontin, Cocaine and other well-known drugs are still a problem, the newest threat coming to our community is the many methamphetamine labs that are being found each week. One such lab was uncovered a fewt weeks ago by several officers and one of them was hospitalized from breathing the gases emitted by the various chemicals being used. Other parts of the state have dealt with this problem for some time, but we are seeing them here now. The greatest problem is that our teens think it is okay to experiment with drugs, not knowing that even one dose of meth can hook them for life, or death can occur even with the first time they try it. Scott says that everyone must get involved in helping deal with this scourge. We should attend the meetings, become a part of the support groups, and get educated about the ways we can contribute to the solutions. Our children's future is at stake and we must act now. Thanks, Scott for the informative program. - JMC.

ANNOUNCEMENT: "Books for Babes" has been extended another week. If you have any "slightly used" books for Pre-school children, bring them to the Rotary meeting next week.