During this hour-long broadcast, learn who is using all forms of cocaine and see how it compares to who used it in the past. See how it’s linked to gangs. Find out how you and your coalition can try to stop its spread and help people who are already addicted.

Learning Objectives:

  • Learn the difference between powder and crack cocaine
  • See who is using cocaine and how it is gaining popularity
  • Find out how gangs are linked to cocaine
  • Hear what slang terms are used to describe cocaine and how it is in the open
  • Learn what your community can do to make a positive change

Originally Aired: September 20, 2007

Panelists

Mary Elizabeth Elliott

(Host) Vice President of Communications and Membership, CADCA

Joseph Smith

Community Policing Officer, St. Petersburg Police Department, St. Petersburg,

Joseph Smith is currently assigned to the largest inner-city community policing area in St. Petersburg. Smith has been with the St. Petersburg Police Department since 1982. During that time, he worked in the detective’s bureau, where he was assigned as a child abuse investigator. He has worked as a Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE) Officer, Patrol Officer, Housing Authority Officer and Acting Street Supervisor. Smith holds a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice from Saint Leo University and is currently in the process of obtaining his MBA. He is a State of Florida Certified Instructor for several law enforcement subjects. In 2003, the St. Petersburg Optimist Club named Mr. Smith as “Police Officer of the Year.” He is also the director of a local summer youth program attended by more than 350 youths.

Larry N. Holifield

Associate Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration, Miami Field Division

Mr. Larry N. Holifield currently serves as the Associate Special Agent in Charge of DEA’s Miami Field Division, where he manages enforcement operations for the division’s District and Resident Offices and oversees the Diversion and Administration Programs for the Division.

Mr. Holifield was born in Arkansas on June 7, 1952. He attended Maryville College in St. Louis, Missouri, where he graduated in 1977 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Political Science and Legal Justice. He began his career in law enforcement with the St. Louis Police Department in August 1970, where he served until joining DEA in March 1984. Upon completion of Basic Agent Training, he was assigned as a Special Agent to the New Orleans Field Division in August 1984.

In January 1988, Mr. Holified was selected for an assignment in the Guatemala City Country Office. He served in the foreign environment until 1992, when we was promoted to a Group Supervisor position in the San Francisco Field Division. In November 1994, he was selected him as Program Manager to implement, organize, and supervise the newly-established Alameda County Drug Enforcement Task Force in Oakland, California (which later became the Oakland Resident Office). As such, he supervised a staff of 30 enforcement and support personnel from 10 different agencies and had fiscal oversight on a 1.3 million dollar annual budget.

In January 1997, Mr. Holified was selected to be DEA’s first liaison to the CIA in Bogot�, Colombia. He received a temporary promotion in January 1999 to Acting Assistant Country Attach� of the Bogot� Country Office. In August of that same year, he received a promotion and transferred to DEA Headquarters as a Section Chief in DEA’s Office of International Programs. In February 2001, Mr. Holifield was assigned as an Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the El Paso Field Division. Through these assignments, Mr. Holifield developed close contacts and relationships with high-ranking officials from the FBI, USCS, USCG, DIA, CIA, NDIC, NSA, the Colombian National Police, the Mexican PGR, and all of the Central American Countries. He was also awarded the prestigious CIA Warren Medal for Outstanding Service to the United States.

In December 2002, Mr. Holifield was promoted to the ranks of the Senior Executive Service as the Regional Director for Mexico and Central America in DEA’s Mexico City Country Office. He assumed his current position as Associate Special Agent in Charge of the Miami Field Division in June 2006.

Dr. Scott Teitelbaum

Medical Director, Florida Recovery Center, Interim Division Chief, Division of Addiction Medicine, University of Florida, Department of Psychiatry, Gainesville, FL

Originally from Staten Island, New York, Dr. Teitelbaum received his undergraduate degree in Psychology at Lehigh University. He attended medical school at Rochester University. Completing his residency in Pediatrics at University of Connecticut, Dr. Teitelbaum served in private practice for ten years at Teitelbaum & Katz Pediatrics in Middletown, Connecticut after which he completed his Postdoctoral Fellowship in Addiction Medicine under the mentorship of Dr. Mark Gold and Dr. Kenneth Thompson at the University of Florida. Additionally, Dr. Teitelbaum completed a fellowship in Child Psychiatry at the University of Florida. Joining the Faculty in 2002, Dr. Teitelbaum serves as the Medical Director for the Florida Recovery Center, Director of Adolescent Recovery Services and Clinical Associate Professor for the Department of Psychiatry as well as the Department of Pediatrics. Additionally, he currently serves as the Interim Division Chief of Addiction Medicine. His expertise in Addiction Medicine goes beyond chemical dependence and includes an intensive, in depth knowledge of compulsive gambling. He has been involved in the treatment and evaluation of compulsive gamblers on a statewide level. Dr. Teitelbaum currently serves as an Expert Panelist and Speaker for The National Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign which is sponsored by The White House, Office of National Drug Control Policy. In addition to being board certified as a Pediatrician, Dr. Teitelbaum is certified by the American Society of Addiction Medicine and is a certified medical review officer.

Phillip Duket

Drug Free Community Project Director, Family Resource Centers of Sheboygan County

Philip Duket currently serves as the Project Director of the Drug Free Community Project in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, and chairs the Healthy Sheboygan County 2010 AODA Committee. Through the past several years, Mr. Duket has guided the community prevention efforts to include environmental strategies and evidence-based programming to compliment and enhance existing substance abuse prevention efforts.

Since graduating in 1977 with a B.A. in Sociology from Northern Illinois University, Mr. Duket has been involved in various community based programming. He has over 25 years of experience in working with youth, families and the community.

In addition to providing individual, family and group counseling Mr. Duket was the creator and director of a nationally recognized experiential-based counseling program.