The drug culture of today’s youth is very different from the situation that existed when most parents were growing up, and the Wm. S. Hart Union High School District has scheduled a parent information meeting at Saugus High School on Thursday, May 7, to help bring parents up to date on the drug-related challenges faced by teens today.

The program will feature Lt. Tom Lorenz, a respected and well-known narcotics officer with the Glendale Police Department.

The parent information session is part of the Hart District’s Comprehensive Alcohol and Drug Reduction and Education Program (CADRE) and will be held in the Building S Lecture Hall at Saugus High School from 7:30 to 9 p.m.

“Over the years, generation to generation, drugs have plagued society,” explained Darryl Adams, who heads the Hart District’s CADRE program. “Our youth today are curious, and substances are far too readily available.”

The May 7 program will deal with everything from over-the-counter products to those that naturally grow in the Santa Clarita Valley and illicit drugs that have moved from the street corners to the Internet, clubs and parties.

CADRE parent information programs are free, but reservations are encouraged since at least 100 interested parents must be signed up in advance for the program to proceed. RSVPs can be e-mailed to dadams@hartdistrict.org or sent by phone to 259-0033, extension 316.

“We hope a number of concerned parents will take this opportunity to investigate the drug culture of some of our youth today,” Adams concluded.

Parent, student and staff information is an important component of the Hart District’s CADRE program, which also includes voluntary random drug testing.

More than 300 students have been enrolled in this year’s pilot program of random testing, and the district hopes to have more than 1,000 students in the program when school opens for the 2009-10 school year.