Sue Rusche and Bill Carter

00:06 So I'm Soo Russia. I'm 79 years old. Today's date is March 6th 2018. We are at the Atlanta History Center at storycorps Atlanta and I'm here with the chairman of my board Bill Carter.

00:28 My name is Bill Carter. I'm 69 years old. Today's date is March 6th 2018.

00:36 Currently at the storycorps, Atlanta

00:41 And I my relationship to the partner to suruchi is a colleague of friend and just a supporter for all that. She's been doing for all these years.

00:56 So now here we are Bill at the 41st year of national families in action. It's just unbelievable that we've hung on that long and work that long. That's a long time for a nonprofit organization. That's true. And so the thing that we do and have done for 41 years is protect children from addictive drugs by shining a light on the science that illuminates their effects.

01:33 So the

01:37 We wanted to reminisce a little bit about all the things that we've done over the years for that probably not.

01:48 But why don't you why don't you just kind of how did you get started 41 years ago in years ago help me. Remember my children were seven and eight at the time and a group of children who were just a little bit older in the neighborhood. We lived near Emory and my husband was teaching at Emory. He's just retired now and at some kids off the street who were just a few years older. It was discovered at a birthday party that they were using drugs and it they were in sixth and seventh grade. It just seemed in inconceivable. That was 1976 and shortly after that. I went to I took my kids and some of their friends to a record store in this was before CDs and tapes and before all those other things, right and we walked in and the glass case that the cash register was sitting on

02:48 Was filled with all these beautiful exotic Star Wars like things called bonds bonds and my children just said, I'll look Mommy and went straight for the the glass case and I got them out of there and their friends as quickly as we could and it turned out that was the beginning of the drug paraphernalia industry that was popping opening stores and popping up in record stores in other places or opening up full. Some cells that was going on all over the country and it was targeting kids and meanwhile marijuana use an illicit drug use we're going up and up and up and up and up and they peaked in 1979 two years after we were founded and then it turned out that that was going on all over the country and that an awful lot of kids were using marijuana and PCP somewhere even into cocaine and so parents respond.

03:48 Did by forming parent groups to protect kids from this industry of drug paraphernalia and from this industry of illicit drugs. And so Between 1979 and drug use Peak and 1992. The parent movement is credited with reducing marijuana use and illicit drug use by 2/3 between 79 and 92 added Diamond to get parents moving. Well, we got the first laws to the Georgia legislature in the country to Outlaw and ban drug paraphernalia. And these were items that were targeting children frisbee pot pipes with built-in marijuana pipes. So you could take a token toss it to your friends.

04:48 Coca Cola stash cans with fake bottoms a place to hide drugs in the ad said this hide drugs from parents and police that kind of stuff. And so we got those lost you and we thought we were going to go back to our normal lives. But all of a sudden the phone started ringing people figured out how to spell Russia National Family Center action. How did you get those laws passed in can you give us copies, please and PS. Do you have any information about how drugs affect kids and they was very little information back then in the scientific literature about that. But what little there was we went after all of us and we helped parents who would call from all over the country phone groups. We should we told him how to do that. We wrote a manual called how to form a family connection group in your community and we found a printer who would print it for free on spec and then as we got donation,

05:48 We paid the printer off. There was a. Of time where drug use among adolescents at Peak.

06:08 And then what that mean over what. Of time did you begin to see that the apparent movement was really starting it take a positive effect down almost immediately after 1979 and you have to put into perspective the fact that the surveys didn't start until the early seventies but a survey was done by the National Institute on drug abuse in 1961 or Road and at that point less than 1% of adolescents in this country had ever tried an illicit drug. That's a dumbfounding. So we went from that to in the tag 50s 50% past month users. It was just amazing By 1979. And so we were trying to drive it down and we did up until 1992 and we got rid of the paraphernalia industry. So there was no marketing of illicit drug use to children.

07:08 But then that this infusion of money began in the in 92, actually it's in early 90s to finance a legalization movement first marijuana and first as medicine, so brilliant promotional

07:31 Effort was to portray marijuana as medicine and counteract all of the the science that we had at that point that show that it was harmful. It was like the tobacco industry denying that nicotine or cigarettes might be harmful to you instead doctors use them and Joe Camel did and you know it. All of that advertising and marketing to get people to start and what was acceptable back back then as soon as I looked through some of arak archives and I see some of the advertising that was done and it literally showing doctors, you know smoking and saying how how beneficial it was and how how safe it it was and you can clearly see

08:31 Damned also the the effort to to Market to to you think it's it's it's it's quite quite alarming to realize that that was taken play some back in the 80s and 90s. So yeah what people don't know is that the tobacco industry started marketing tobacco and cigarettes as medicine get really really really and then and then through doctors. So you're addicted. We have some amazing pictures and a collection of interesting advertisements for trying to get people to smoke and the other aspect was that the tobacco industry went after kids because they knew what the science was saying at that point, which was the earlier you but the younger you are when you start using an addictive drugs the more like it you'll become addicted and a lifetime customer from the industry's point of view.

09:31 Yeah, and they continue to deny that the harmful effects of tobacco for quite some time in 50 years. It looks like marijuana is kind of taking the same path. You got it. If so with that.

09:47 Obviously the challenge of of that and seeing and witnessing what we went through with the tobacco industry in back then in the eighties and nineties to see a similar thing on folders relates Tamara want a kind of brings his wife to to the 90s and that's around the time. I almost at that I came and came knocking on your door back in the 90s early 90s.

10:23 I say I'm believing. It's at least 25 years.

10:28 Since since I got involved with national families in action, and it is a story that you will recall at Laverne. My wife and I get started our business in 1991 and office equipment sales and technology and a very first sales representative came knocking on National families in Max's door, and it had to been 1993 to make a sales called and that called in go quite so well, and if you'll recall polling in Yoo-hoo another co-founder back in the 70s and early 80s with you kind of took the call and and had the meeting with my sales representative, and she wasn't very very excited about that meeting and and happened to say I'm going to call at office and speak to

11:28 Money is in charge and so the call came into the office. I took the call and spoke to Paul and she she just said while I thought that the cell called could have gone a little bit better and so understanding that you wasn't real pleased. I decided to make a personal visit to to you all and in the back and I can sit back in 1993 just a long story short and as I recall coming in and talking to a pole and trying to just make sure that she was satisfied and give us an opportunity to earn your business. I began asking questions about what you all did and what was National families and action all about and I remember it is as clear as day. I'm looking at you and I'm looking at Paul and I'm think I'm sitting in her office you came in and I'm looking at two of very attractive energetic white women who was telling me that you all were working as an

12:28 Show Family snacks has had a presence in the inner-city communities Techwood and Bankhead courts, and I was familiar with those neighborhoods. I'm from New York city. So I know what it was in the city of communities and neighborhoods look like and I'm familiar was familiar with those two and I'm looking at you all and I'm saying you're doing what I fear. You you got an office in these communities and you guys go there every day and you're working with parents and you trying to help parents protect your kids from back from crack cocaine epidemic in those communities for sure and I'm saying this is an interesting picture. If so from then I said if if you all can go in there is a try to make a difference. Maybe I can help and 25 years later. I'm still with you trying to trying to make a difference. So again, I do remember that and

13:28 Impact you made on those on those communities. We are probably one of the highlights of your activity in those communities was the story about Brandon. Yeah one at reefer snow is thinking last night also about Brenda who went to she said we taught her how to work because she that are Vistas that we hired at needed to spend one day a week in our office out in the suburbs and and she learned how did she learn the rules of work and have to do that and then she went to the University of Phoenix online and she ended up getting her degree. Do you remember and then there was Brandon and Brandon at Bankhead was his mother was addicted to crack cocaine and she had been in treatment 17 different times and he was he got a 2.8 in

14:28 Senior year in high school and a scholarship tomorrow is brown which he was going to turn down because he felt he needed to stay home with his with his sister and take care of her and our Project Director on-site Cora gave Brandon's mother the after care that she needed after her 18th Triad treatment. She's been sober ever since and we are so proud of her. She's been in recovery all this time. She escaped public housing. She got a Section 8 she bought her for his car to learn to drive and Brandon mean while we are staff as you remember took up a collection for his books and I took him down tomorrow is brown and signed his life away loans with the amount of tuition that the scholarship did not cover and he not only graduated come laude from Morris Brown that then he went to Georgia State got a

15:28 Masters and then a PhD in Psychology. I just and he's such an outstanding young man now he and his wife and their son who's just starting college now had just come back from the United Arab Emirates where they've been Headmaster and and and headmistress of school for Arab children, at least three. I think they promised there's honey, but they would come back so he could go to college in the States but I remember back in and I couldn't believe actually I couldn't I couldn't believe how old is sun. Hat how long it been since I had seen him and you know again to think that you know, we have a saying about paying it forward that that's exactly what he and his wife and family are now doing what what we did at National family.

16:28 You and Paula really took picked up the reins to do formed that he hadn't forgotten and then he's paying it forward what it where I got a call one day for five years ago three or four years ago and all of a sudden and it was Brandon S Brandon. Where are you? He said in Dubai with so much fun. So all through that the 90s weed and even in the 80s, we did a lot of publishing. We probably just a lot of pamphlets and booklets and always to educate everybody but targeting parents so they could educate themselves and understand what the threat from the drug Industries was and so they could protect their kids and with with real information from the scientists as opposed to a hype from the industry.

17:26 Which is what you a DNR we still struggle the day with with with that to to some extent the fact that the the NL with the information that the science of researchers come out with its, in the science and research language and it's always been how do we take that information and and make it plain as we say kind of how we make it plain so that every average person today can understand what the science really is saying about a number of things and and also take Skillet down to where kids understand and so I'm thinking about Club gyro and actually we were really tired of getting it off the ground when I really started to get in cage with national famous an actual we where do we start the club club hero again 95 and it's out of our inner-city family's own Action project in that.

18:25 How's your middle school was created by taking about six different sixth and seventh grades from elementary schools, including one that was in our in Bankhead courts. And so that's what I do is just a continuation. We went from Community to school and work with the parents and and kids at students and teachers. The club hero was really targeted at that the kids in the Middle School, right? And I was a program for it for kids. So again, the focus still kind of Still Remains all the way through again 70s 80s, and now into the 90s that we still focusing in on how do we protect the kids but also providing information that's that that that they can get their arms around at the same time arming parents on on what's really kind of going on out there exactly. What are the publication?

19:25 Was the neuroscientist were beginning to discover a lot about how the brain works and how drugs exert their effects on the brain addictive drugs. And so we were so fascinated by that with we had a science adviser back then and now we have a science Advisory Board which is kind of exciting but back then we had a science adviser who taught as he was a neuroscientist and he taught us more than we ever thought. We needed to know about how drugs affect the brain and we were so enchanted by that idea that we wanted to we incorporated that into our educational series. You have the right to know about drugs about tobacco about alcohol. Cocaine substance abuse including alcohol to write time in the in the midnight.

20:25 Is when the legalization movement got a huge infusion of cash actually early 90s and by 1996 they had convinced people in California that marijuana was a medicine. I miss informing them and by using the ballot initiative process, we don't have that here in Georgia. So yeah thank heavens but something about half of the states a citizen can ride a law and as long as the citizen collects an appropriate number of signatures from voters, the citizen can get at a law on the ballot and he he or she can say anything they want to about that. They could write the law and and the fact that it may not have any relationship to fax. And so that's began the whole effort to miseducate the American.

21:25 Public about the harmful effects of marijuana a that the myth is a it's it's not addictive be it's harmless see it's a medicine. So how could it possibly hurt you and it was a brilliant campaign on their part. I must say, so let me know and I remember my my shock to be aware and I wasn't that I'll just say this back then that politically astute to realize that if someone that was in the community with a clipboard spend enough time going around the community and gathering enough signatures, then those signatures could equate to allowing that but that that group to write a write a bill write a law and then get it get it on the ballot to then be promoted that why that's a good idea to vote for this and then it gets voted by the by by the voters.

22:22 And it becomes law. That's right. It's just an extraordinary extraordinary, but that's that's how the marijuana legalization movement has unfolded over over many years. And so the who were the first states that California was 90 Halas California was the first state to legalize medical and about four or five more states legalized medical then in in the 90s and then up through the two thousands and then it 2012, Colorado and Washington were the first date again through the ballot initiative process that legalized marijuana for recreational use and now we're just beginning to see some of the negative problems that are coming from that it's interesting because in during that time as we left the 90s weed, we wrote grants with our science advisor to do the addiction studies program for June.

23:22 And one for the states in order to try to reach out to people who shape public opinion. I eat your analyst and people who shape public policy. I eat state legislators School educating educating because we felt that if we could get the story out to the press and into the legislators that maybe some of this would stop some who's legalization would stop because the argument with made based on height not on facts that transition if you will let that we took I'm going from of the focus on on our kids and then Focus I was seeing educating with parents on how to protect them and then it became apparent to us as we we struggled with this not having certainly not having the funds to to match what the the legal legal has a

24:22 After that, we had the name begin to change our focus a little bit or shift or to decision-makers and policymakers the edge hopefully educate them enough so they would make the right to informed decisions as they were relating as they were making policy and the addiction studies program. We started it with some focusing on the journalist because hopefully they would they will report the information accurately and then on the, you know, the states decision makers of lawmakers just in case they missed this information and we can share it with them as well. And in that really has sustained itself for quite some time all through the 2003 riding up into the end of the 2010s, but we also remember when we tried

25:22 To institutionalize that parent movement that had produced drug used by two-thirds among adolescents and young adults back in the 80s and early 90s in late 70s and say we got a grant a very large Grant to create the parent core which is like Peace Corps for parents. That's where you are. The one who made that happen National coordinator of parent cord back in the most mothers were still at home and not working and had lots of time to volunteer. But by the time we got to the 2070 buddy was in the workplace. And so the only way we were going to be able to get parents out of their jobs was to give them a different job. And so we paid parents at parent leader is after interviewing them and training them and then you were the guy who manage them.

26:22 Yeah day today and made that happen. What a shocking thought. That was. I remember some of the fish back that we got people say wait a minute. Let me make make sure I'm clear you going to pay volunteers to do with volunteers. Do you going to pay them to do that right in schools? Right. This is that's what we're understanding. And we said, yeah interesting concept, right? You know, like you said everybody was in the workforce now, but we still needed that quote. I guess that's where that's a traditional volunteer that did the work that they did because it had the passion to do it. And so we say we need that passion and we need you to be in the schools, but you know, but we know that you may also have the need to to increase some men come into the household pay the grocery bill when you get to the lodge, how about that? And so what a novel idea it work for us for a little while?

27:22 Bulls of the schools that we were in we were in nine states and the principal said the following things happened that positive Communications from parents magnified discipline problems went down Dropout rates went down kids grades went up just amazing results way did the guy that said what about us from 20 schools and

27:59 6000 kids with amazing amazing. And one of our Champions is John Lewis apparent a national paracord Bill and is introduced in Congress at in every new Congress. So we're very hopeful that one day, about the national. Scored. Well, it's on the books and thank God thank goodness for him. We can will always be indebted to him for taking the lead and stepping forward and continuing to to push it forward. So who knows? I'm fortunately week, you know that kind of funding certainly from the federal government began to dry up on it in the early 2000s, but the concept the idea that still says if you inform parents or parents will will do their natural thing and and want to protect your kids and

28:59 And those parents really did come together as a unit across the country and I didn't take much to motivate and we just had to give them information that they needed focus on the things that will most important to them about their kids. And then you got them engaged. Once you get parents engaged. I just watch out watch out for that. But we still we stretched that Grant an additional three or four years Beyond where was supposed to end first with them the federal funds we stretch to four years instead of three and then we're able to continue the program in the Atlanta area afterwards with grants from various folks including the invite family here in Atlanta. That was a lovely opportunity. So then we come to the two thousands and we

29:59 By then the legalization effort is just all over the place and individuals are we major individuals who poured millions and millions and millions of dollars into the legalization effort and still are but now what would happen would be that when a state with legalized marijuana for medical use that would open up Commerce and so all of a sudden there be a fledgling marijuana industry to sell unsafe unapproved an FDA-approved products to people and they call it medicine but they were those products could be full of contaminants. None of us ever been approved by FDA is safe or effective summer making people sick. It's really summer sending kids to the hospital sending with overdoses sent that some I said,

30:59 Grown ups now to the hospital with overdoses, especially in Colorado. We're seeing that now

31:06 But we we had had a major conference here in 2013 and we brought the people from Colorado and Washington to come to Atlanta President. Jimmy Carter key noted our speed to say when he was president. He's advocated for decriminalization but not for legalization. And we wanted to try to help those people who were going to write the rags in the first two states that legalized for recreational to make certain that the regulations were as tough as they could be and what is now happening to kids wouldn't happen. Unfortunately. It didn't work because the industry again, it's bought-and-paid-for and we had up another we have another champion and that's Oz Nelson God love him who is the retired head of ups and he was the chairman of the Carter Center board and is the

32:06 Isn't it we were able to get pregnant while you're to come and talk at the conference and eyes has been instrumental in helping us build ourselves back up after the loss of federal funds to mazing. So after that conference, we then began getting into the marijuana report, which is a website and it's also an e-newsletter that goes out every Wednesday to about 12,000 people across the United States.

32:34 And what it does is if people are interested in learning more about the marijuana legalization effort. They can go to National families.org and read tracking the money. Yep. I went to the report we did last year that tracks every penny that went into the effort to legalize marijuana across the United States now the industry's taking over and that's even scarier to see what they're doing. It's big tobacco all over again. So we call him a big marijuana and take a look of of how did again the tobacco industry ball. You can see that the the game plan for marijuana and and the whole substance abuse industry is following the same path. You know, I'm weekly we've been saying this for 40 years that you know, if it fit availability and the reduction of harm as soon as you begin the

33:34 Reduce the risk and then reduce the harm and certainly adults was certainly kids also will not perceive a rest and think that it's going to be okay and they continue to pound of weight that I met any people just also realize that you know from each state that has now approve recreational started out by proven medical and so it's just some so it this brings us to week. We that looks like Sue after all these years. We really haven't changed about focus. It is just finding new ways to take the information. We have like you mentioned a fair one a report in in re newsletter is is today's version of you have the right to know and all the other Publications and books and articles that have been written from National family too and action under your pain.

34:34 Phora for 40 years. I can ask though. I got to got to ask you. So we having this conversation. What keeps you going? It's a it's a it's in the exploitation. I just some faxes by the way. I'm still here too. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, and I think helping people see what these in its like the gun industry. It's like 90% how many what are the percentages now huge? Most people in this country want gun control? And here are these kids at Parkland maybe going to lead us out of this but it's it's it's it's bought-and-paid-for policy and that's just not right when when money drives policy instead of Public Health and money drives policy to the detriment of Public Health. That's what infuriates me and we lived through it with the tobacco industry. We are living through it with the

35:34 Gun industry the sad thing is that most of the population in the United States now thinks they bought the industry story The Bottom paid for his glory. And so we do we have an education and every now and then we get a little wind kicked out of a knocked out of us and we stopped to watch a realize how long it took time for us to address in tobacco situation Shore or the numbers the numbers are down, but it wasn't until the detriment of the public health really began to take hold and people started take notice of it that that change came about and that's that's regrettable millions of lives later. And so what we're just trying to continue to do it keeps us going as it's safe. Hey folks wake up.

36:34 This is just a new picture. We've seen this scenario before so we need to just how people see that don't believe the hype things. That just stuns me is that there's now there's some studies that have come out that look at population data instead of data about human beings Ordinary People by looking at all the people in the state instead of looking at individuals. And so there's some studies out there that are suggesting that marijuana use might actually be a way to reduce opioid opioid crisis that we've got right now will it turns out the Colorado has just issued data about all of the drug deaths in their state and it is stunning that by the way is going to be this week's marijuana.

37:34 Opioid crisis is huge ever since Colorado started legalizing marijuana in the year 2004 CE legalized for medical but they didn't provide any way to get it and in 2009, they legalized commercial medical where they allowed they license shops to produce a make marijuana medicine so-called and then in 2012, they legalized recreational and the the chart of the increase in deaths from all drugs, not only opioids but methamphetamine and other drugs is just it's like going up a mountain just it is stunning and nobody knows that nobody knows that wow. How is that? How is it possible that that information is as simple as looking at a chart in and nobody knows it.

38:27 Well, I think the chart is very

38:32 It's very simple. It's very complex. It's it's more of what you referred to earlier about how scientific data can get very complex and it's hard to understand. And in fact, I won't write about this without talking to the man who released those figures because I have questions to ask is this deaths per 100,000 is a total deaths and that's not clear in the chart. But it's it's it's the combination I think of complex science that is really hard to understand Plus at an industry that is hyping all the time so we can credit to the fact of the fact of us having a science Advisory Board to be able to decipher it or translate exactly. Do you understand science, but still your look,

39:32 Get some clarification so you can make it as we say can so you can make it plain, right? So right so general public and look at it. I understand what it is. If you're looking at exactly what's a good reason to continue to do what we do. Yeah, I think so. Thank God for us Nelson who's helping us get their financially and thanks for all for our boys get there. And I don't know if you're mine or not. But you know what you think of a Champions, you know, I have to mention delivery. I have to mention I'm fat by name. He he was there when I got it got here and he's still here. I'm sure he's one of the founding board members that has been by her side and providing us with the expert advice for

40:26 What are you amazing to another 40, right?

40:34 Okay.