Halifax Authorities Introduce Anonymous Drug ID Program

A new program is designed to help parents investigate their children's drug use without fear of prosecution.

Posted 8:31 p.m. Apr 24, 2007 — Updated 12:48 a.m. Apr 25, 2007

HALIFAX, N.C. — A new program is designed to help parents investigate their children's drug use without fear of their children being prosecuted.

TimeOut, a program introduced Tuesday by the Halfax County authorities, allows parents to anonymously send drug samples to the sheriff’s office for high-speed analysis at no charge. Parents are then notified anonymously about the results.

The process allows parents to confront family members and privately seek treatment and counseling, without any fear of prosecution or awareness on the part of law enforcement officers.

“We hope that parents across our county will take advantage of our TimeOut program to rescue their children from the devastating effects of drug abuse,” said Halifax County Sheriff Jeff Frazier. “Most drug abuse begins early, when children and teens begin to experiment with illegal substances as early as middle school. Sometimes, parents have their suspicions but no proof.

"Using TimeOut, they can intervene with evidence on their side and perhaps prevent an addiction,” Frazier said.

The program is being made possible with the use of a new drug-testing instrument called the NarTest NTX 2000. Halifax County is among the first North Carolina counties to test the instrument.

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