Melissa Siebers attended the softball game Friday not only to watch her daughter, sophomore outfielder Alli Cook, but to honor the second annual Not One More day.
Siebers is the president of Not One More, which aims to educate families about the hazards of heroin and other drug abuse, according to its website. Siebers suffered a tough loss, which inspired her to promote awareness of drug abuse.
“I lost my daughter and we decided to get together because this is a huge problem,” Siebers said. “Our kids are dying from it.”
Siebers notices a connection between pills and heroin.
“It’s always pills and herion,” Siebers said. “Parents, lock up your prescription drugs or dispose of them at your local police station, because that is how kids go from pills to heroin.”
Siebers sees is how cheap heroin is, compared to prescription pills, which can lead to addiction, she said.
“A kid will get addicted to the pills and if they can’t get them any more or they’re too expensive, that kid could turn to heroin, and it’s cheap, really cheap,” Siebers said.
Not One More is spreading to different states, Siebers said. One chapter just opened up in Pittsburgh.
“We try to guide the parents and teach them about free treatment, and we give them choices,” she said.
Siebers travels into the classrooms of Simi Valley, where she is from.
“When I go into the high school classrooms, I bring in two addicts with me,” she said. “When you see your friend trying that pill for the first time, slap it out of their hand.”
Siebers said one of her mottos is “not even once.”
“It only takes one time to get hooked,” she said.
Angelo Boscacci can be reached at [email protected] or @Boscacci6 on Twitter
