Contact: Harriet Laird
STARKVILLE, Miss.--Mark Stovall of the Mississippi Department of Mental Health will be the first guest for the Mississippi State University Health Education and Wellness Department's speaker series on Tuesday [Sept. 2].
The director of the Division of Treatment Services, Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Services, will present "The Perils of Synthetic Drugs: 25I NBOMe," at 10 a.m., in Colvard Student Union's Fowlkes Auditorium. The free event is open to all students, employees and the public.
Stovall's address is the first activity in an annual awareness campaign sponsored by MSU's Health Education and Wellness Department, a unit of the University Health Center.
Department Director Joyce Yates said, "We are committed to holding awareness programming throughout the year to address the many challenges students face. We support our students by promoting their personal development through engagement in critical thinking, responsible decisions, and healthy lifestyle choices."
Stovall's topic is timely as recent news reports have focused on synthetic drugs filtering into the Magnolia State.
"Young people in Mississippi should be on heightened alert to the increased risk of dangerous side effects associated with these unregulated chemicals. Students, educators and the community-at-large are strongly encouraged to raise awareness of dangers associated with all types of synthetic drugs," said Dr. Jerri Avery, director of the Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Services, Mississippi Department of Mental Health.
One of the synthetic drugs is 25I NBOMe (nicknamed NBOMB), which is often misrepresented as LSD. Additionally, marijuana has been reported to be laced with 25I, and it is more potent and unpredictable than other illegal street drugs. Overdose symptoms of 25I include prolonged psychotic breaks, poor perception of time, hyperthermia, increase in heart rate and blood pressure, dilated pupils, flushed skin, kidney failure, seizures, and death.
The speaker series will continue throughout the year with topics on texting and impaired driving, sexual assault responsibility and prevention, and sun safety and skin cancer prevention.
For more information on Tuesday's event or MSU's Health Education and Wellness Department, call 662-325-7545 or 2141; or email jyates@saffairs.msstate.edu.