Red Ribbon Week is a program that Liberty High School students participate in each year, and different themes are created for each day of the week; what many students overlook, however, is the purpose of the program—the dangers associated with drugs.

Every year, LHS makes a weeklong dedication to promoting a drug free environment for its students. Each day has a new theme that promotes staying away from drugs. Many students have little interaction with drugs on a daily basis but can still benefit from knowledge gained during Red Ribbon Week. According to Student Resource Officer for the Frisco Police Department Jerry Varner, the focus of the week is educating students about the dangers of the use or sale of drugs.

“The thing about this type of program is you can’t measure its success,” Varner said. “You don’t know how many people stay away from [drugs]. If we save one kid, that’s all that matters.”

According to Varner, drugs are common on the LHS campus. However, what separates Liberty from some other schools is that students typically have to seek out drugs in order to find them on campus; they aren’t readily available all over the school. So far this school year, Varner has not made any drug busts. However, that does not mean there are not students who misuse drugs, which is why the program continues at Liberty, as well as nationwide.

“Nobody’s going to come up to [Liberty] and willingly offer it to you,” Varner said. “You have to go look for it. It’s there if you look for it; it’s not if you don’t.”

The dangers of drugs are often discussed during Red Ribbon Week, but the underlying causes of drug abuse is one area that, while it is addressed, often does not receive as much attention during Red Ribbon Week. Varner said that life issues are often the main reason that students begin to misuse drugs. Looking for a way to escape their problems, students will turn to substances that they hope will make them feel better or forget about issues they are having for a little while.

“Ninety-nine percent of the time, they’re looking for an out,” Varner said. “They’re looking for something to numb the pain.”

Another aspect of drug awareness is attempting to clear up common misnomers about drugs. According to officer Varner, one of the most common misnomers he hears is that marijuana is natural and, therefore, better for you. This is actually not true; marijuana has more negative effects on your physical health than cigarettes. There is usually no filter on blunts, which allows more tar and other carcinogens involved in smoking to enter your lungs than a regular cigarette would allow.

“There’s this myth out there that [marijuana] is not bad for you, when actually it’s awful,” Varner said.