PRESTONSBURG — Communities Against Drug Addiction held its monthly meeting with a special presentation by Prestonsburg Police Det. Adam Dixon.

Det. Sgt. Dixon, a six-year veteran of the Prestonsburg Police Department, told those in attendance that the drug epidemic has grown to such proportions that everyone has been affected.

“The drug problem in Eastern Kentucky has, in one shape, form, or fashion, touched everyone at one time or another,” Dixon said.

Dixon, who serves as a canine handler and detective for the PPD, was at Tuesday’s meeting of Communities Against Drug Addiction to make people aware of new trends that have been seen by the law enforcement community in the war against drug abuse.

According to Dixon, prescription narcotics are still the most commonly abused drug in the Prestonsburg area. Prescription narcotics, Dixon says, are the second only to alcohol for the ease at which they can be obtained by teenagers.

Dixon cited a statistic from streetdrugs.com stating that “12.3 percent of high school students in America have already tried an opioid-based prescription drug for non-medical purposes.”

While prescription narcotic abuse remains prominent, Dixon warns that there have been recent cases of methamphetamine-related offenses that could be a sign of a growing trend of meth production in Floyd County. Dixon says people paying attention for the signs of an active meth lab in the community are the best defense.

Dixon also brought information on the new prevalence of designer and synthetic drugs that have recently been making news in Floyd County. The Smoke Shack on Route 80 was raided twice this year for allegedly selling synthetic marijuana, which is often marketed as potpourri or incense.

The CADA group has a new speaker monthly and meets the third Tuesday of every month at the Floyd County Health Department.