Law enforcement, schools and mediation center launch Chatham County youth fentanyl-prevention program

An unnamed staff member who has worked in drug law enforcement described a new countywide program to teach middle-school students about the risks of fentanyl and give them tools to resist peer pressure and cyber-enabled drug access.

The initiative, developed in partnership with Chatham Narcotics and a local mediation center, began as a pilot and is now an active program. The presenter said the program aims "to be able to get with this program to every middle schooler in Chatham County" and emphasized youth-to-youth messaging, noting, "...they look up to [high school students], and so that they're gonna receive that message far better than an adult giving them that message."

Program organizers described a multi-part approach. The law-enforcement speaker said the effort pairs law enforcement experience about drug supply and potency with the mediation center's expertise in adolescent messaging and school-based delivery. The presenter said the program "gives the kids tools to be able to make those decisions properly," and that the effort goes beyond drug awareness to cover bullying, cyberbullying and peer pressure.

Organizers reported initial training for 16 to 20 high school students who will serve as peer messengers and said the program is designed to be adaptable as substance trends evolve. The presenter referenced decades of experience in drug enforcement and framed the initiative as a long-term, flexible prevention program: "this program will be in place, and we can shift gears to the next epidemic."

A speaker who identified themself as affiliated with Chatham Narcotics said the mediation center had been a long-time partner with established school programs and that the new collaboration was a "natural connect and a natural step forward." That speaker also highlighted the role of social media platforms, saying students "are able to use that as a communication tool, to get access to some of these things or to be exposed from it," and urged parents to monitor children’s social media use.

Organizers said the program's immediate goals are awareness (particularly about fentanyl contamination of other drugs), youth peer-to-peer education, and equipping students with decision-making tools. No formal board action or funding amount was announced at the briefing.

Program leaders said the effort is already active and will expand, beginning with the trained high-school peer educators and aiming to reach middle-school populations across Chatham County.

A fuller plan, funding sources and metrics for measuring impact were not specified during the remarks.