DAVID ROZGA STORY UPDATE

The article which follows was first posted about a year ago. Since that posting the Rozga family has appeared on 20/20 and before the State legislature, telling their story and doing all that they can to stop the tragedy caused by the drugs called Spice and K2. However, little has been done. The shame for this inaction falls squarely upon the legislators who continue to stall action on bills which could save lives, families and communities’ needless pain and suffering.   My question is, How many of our children have to die before Spice and K2 is prohibited?  If you have not read about the Rozga family’s tragedy read last years posting as re-posted below.

Often when tragedy strikes we desperately want or need to blame someone or something for what has happened. Often we search for a cause in hopes by doing so we think we can figure out the why and the how of such a tragedy. We want to desperately be able to stop it from ever happening again. This desire often works for the good because it inspires many good and important innovations in our society. For example, after a tornado hit and killed a number of people in one small town in Ohio in the early 1900’s sirens were installed in that town and in many small towns across the Midwest as a warning system giving people the opportunity to seek cover before a tornado could strike. They could not stop the tornados but the sirens have prevented many deaths and injuries. Because of flash floods in Tennessee a number of dams have been built providing safety and electricity to hundreds of thousands. Because of the ever increasing rate of deadly car accidents, seat belts were invented and by law we must now wear them. It is for our own good and a buckled belt might save our lives. Medical advances save lives that would have been lost just ten years ago and we marvel at what doctors can now do that they could not do before. All because someone somewhere wanted to keep someone else from losing a loved one in a tragedy that could be avoided.
Our society is facing a new form of tragedy and it is time that we all get involved and put a stop to it before another person is lost. The tragedy is with our young, and with our not so young. It involves anyone who seeks to have an unnatural high by putting a foreign substance into their body. This is often done by ingesting some chemical or by smoking something that was never intended to be smoked. These people are playing a dangerous game and we need to stop them for their own sake and for the sake of our society. We have lost far too many bright and promising young people and there are far too many whose minds will never be the same.
How can we put a stop to this tragedy in the making? First of all we must stop hiding our heads in the sand. We must understand and accept that the “War on Drugs” isn’t over and it hasn’t been lost unless we give up, which we can never do. The battle against illegal and legal drugs has expanded to include many everyday products that we would never think of as a drug. The newest of which is an incense called K2. Kids are buying this across the counter in Tobacco Shops and off the internet. Its effects the mind much like Marijuana and though it is sold as an Herbal incense it can have tragic consequences for those who smoke it. One sad example is the young man from Indianola, Iowa, David M. Rozga (18) who after smoking K2 with some friends, had a bad reaction and as a result took his own life. This promising young man was taken tragically from his parents, his brother, his grandparents and from his community. What he might have become and what he might have done in our society and for our society will forever be an unknown…… all because of K2. This substance should be illegal! It should never be sold over the counter or on-line to a minor or to an adult. Call your congressman today and tell him/her that you want K2 banned from Iowa and throughout the country. Do it because it’s the right thing to do! Call for the sake of our kids. Call because you want to stop the tragedy K2 causes to families and in our communities. Make the call, write the letter, do what ever it takes but stop the sale of K2 today!


Pastor CJ
Chariton Christian Church
Disciples of Christ
Chariton, Iowa