Donation will make home drug tests available

The kits will be offered to township residents at no cost.
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
LIBERTY -- Township parents concerned about the potential for drug abuse in their children now have a new tool to help address the issue.
Anthony Slifka, township police chief, told trustees at a meeting Monday that a township resident gave the police department a $1,000 donation, allowing the department to join the Law Enforcement Against Drugs program. The program permits law enforcement agencies to purchase drug-testing kits for home use.
Slifka said the township will be buying $1,000 worth of the kits, which will be distributed to township residents upon request. Once the department runs out of drug kits, parents can buy the kits from the police department.
The kits, Slifka said, range from $4 to $12. The more expensive kits, he said, are recommended because they will test for a wider variety of drugs.
"Even $12 is a reasonable price to find out if your kid is on drugs," he said.
Here's the plan
Township Administrator Pat Ungaro said the program will bode well for township residents and should continue far into the future. He said the donor did not want to be identified, but the donor did say the township would not have to worry about funding the program if it is successful.
Slifka said the police department will attempt to partner with the school system and other agencies that deal with drug intervention to make the program successful.
Parents who use the kits to determine if their child is experimenting with drugs need to be able to find help, he said.
"If a parent thinks a kid is doing drugs, this is a method for them to use to see if that child is actually doing drugs. If the child is indeed into drugs, some of these organizations can give direction," Slifka said. "We are trying to point the parents in the right direction to help them out."
Slifka said the kits could be used as a simple deterrent. Placing the kit on a table and letting the child know the potential for testing is there, he said, may prevent any experimentation.
Land eyed
The township also may be expanding its recreational space. Ungaro will proceed with the acquisition of more than six acres in the 1100 block of Church Hill-Hubbard Road by eminent domain.
Eminent domain is the right of government to take or to authorize the taking of private property for public use, with just compensation given to the owner.
Ungaro said the four parcels could be used to create a soccer field or possibly be considered as a site for a central township fire station. He said the township may be able to buy the property at a good price because it has sat unused and was an eyesore before being lost in foreclosure.
Trustees also heard a presentation from township resident Carol Reapsummer about the detriments of logging in the township. Reapsummer has been speaking to township and county officials about logging since the activity took place near her home on Burning Tree Lane beginning in 2004.
jgoodwin@vindy.com