Police officer-turned trainer delivers illuminating message about the troubling — and escalating — world of drugs
Jermaine Galloway said at his recent drug and alcohol abuse prevention and enforcement program in Marshall that he could’ve spoke for three hours and still would have plenty of material to share.
It took him only about 10 minutes to drive his point home.
Galloway was at the high school in Marshall on Oct. 1 in front of more than 100 people from various fields to deliver his “High in Plain Sight” presentation. To say it was educational for the listeners would be an understatement, as the eye-opening session covered everything from the ongoing opioid issue in the United States, to vaping, which has reached epidemic levels at schools everywhere. And Galloway also stresses the “small stuff,” — things like over-the-counter drugs — as he has had parents minimize some drugs, assuming they won’t have much of an impact. One of his many messages was that just because a drug is legal, that doesn’t mean it’s low-risk. “That’s the big takeaway — legal doesn’t mean safe,” Galloway said. “I highlight that in a lot of classes, because it really throws people for a loop. Just in the head, automatically, people think, ‘Well, it’s legal, so it must be safe.’ No. Legal just means it hasn’t been banned.” Galloway’s nationally-known “High in Plain Sight” provides education and enforcement strategies for community substance abuse issues. He started training on a local level in Utah in 2003 and launched his “Tall Cop Says Stop” company in 2007. His speaking tours began locally as well, but quickly expanded throughout the state before attending conferences.
“Exposure builds exposure — you go to North Carolina and a bunch of people see you, then you get more calls from North Carolina,” Galloway said. “And you get people from national organizations. We’re almost 20 years in, and we’re still growing.”
The fact that Galloway’s company has yet to reach its peak after nearly 20 years speaks to the nation’s current drug issues. Galloway, who started his law enforcement career in 1997, said he wants his audience to leave his seminars with an acute awareness of the problem.
“I focus more on the prevention and education side, because that reduces what you have to do on the enforcement and arresting side significantly,” Galloway said. “I want people to understand what they’re seeing, what’s going on and why — signs and symptoms.”
Galloway’s true wake-up call — and his inspiration to train and educate the public as much as he can — came years ago when it dawned on him that the general population didn’t know as much as he assumed they did. This epiphany came in Washington State in 2012, the year recreational cannabis was legalized there.
“I’m like, ‘They know it, it’s legalized!” he said. “I thought that I would just stick to my content, and no one knew what I was talking about. I said, you guys are from a state where dispensaries are a walk away. The stuff I find normal and regular, other people don’t know.”
Therein lies the local wake-up call. Galloway told his audience in Marshall that the things he’s talking about — the drugs most assume are only found in larger cities — are in fact right next door. Similar to that talk in Washington State, rural Minnesotans, for the most part, are oblivious to items that are being sold in small towns familiar to local residents.
“Everything is person-specific, there are no absolutes when it comes to drugs,” he said.
The “gateway” today is vaping, Galloway said, not things like cannabis or alcohol, which for a long time was the drug of choice among young people.
“We have vapes all over the place,” he said. “We don’t see a lot of alcohol anymore; we don’t see the keggers. Vapes are starting the whole ballgame.”
Drug companies that produce things like vapes, he said, are picking the most lowhanging fruit in our society: kids. They do this through packaging and offering flavored drugs, or those that look like candies. Even more, these drugs are cheap.
“Have you ever hear a kid say, ‘Give me your finest whiskey.’ No,” said Galloway. “Have you ever head a kid said, ‘Hey, it’s only 80 bucks.’ How does a drug become easier to get? They’re cheap.”
Galloway said since there typically is no monopoly on drugs, companies often try to outdo their competitors cost-wise. Competition, he said, has bred a flourishing enterprise focused mostly on youth. And, Galloway said, today’s society is literally pricing kids into addiction.
“If you have seven donut shops in a small city, that means they’re within blocks of each other — if donut shop number one can’t sell $3 donuts, because donut shop number two is going to sell $2.50 donuts, and shop number three is going to sell $2 donuts. One of them is going to finally say, ‘We’re just going to sell $1 donuts,” Galloway said. “Everyone is going to drop their prices, and that’s what’s happening with drugs. We have too much product.” Galloway used a plethora of slides from convenience stations around the county to drive home his point. His images, gathered from cities in all 50 states over the last 20 years, showed the bright-colored packaging and clear, plastic bins that had handwritten costs on them. Some showed signs that read, “All vape prices reduced.” One of the unknown drugs Galloway spoke about is called Seven hydroxy, an incredibly powerful, natural compound found in the kratom plant. Early last month, the Texas Department of State Health Services put out a warning to people to not use products containing the opiod-like chemical because it can cause major health problems and has the potential for dependence or abuse.
“It is chemically altered, is synthesized and then sold,” Galloway said. “You are selling, in this county, a synthetic opiod over the counter that is probably stronger than heroin. And you have been for almost a year. It is trending nationwide. It’s one of the top two drugs I talk about in the whole country. Ninety percent of my classes have never heard of seven hydroxy — addiction professionals have never heard of this.”
Hospitals do not test for seven hydroxy, Galloway said, because they have never heard of it. The pill also has no label. He added that seven hydroxy, which can be sold as a chewable, is commonly found in gas stations across the country, right along with vaping pens and other drugs.
“We’re not doing anything with this stuff,” Galloway said. “We are trusting all the makers of all these brands — and they sell them here — that they’re being honest and ethical because there is no agency that’s coming in and testing this stuff — no FDA coming in and pulling samples.”
‘
That’s the big takeaway — legal doesn’t mean safe. I highlight that in a lot of classes, because it really throws people for a loop. Just in the head, automatically, people think, ‘Well, it’s legal, so it must be safe.’
No. Legal just means it hasn’t been banned.
— JERMAINE GALLOWAY
