HOUSTON — A new traveling exhibit from the Drug Enforcement Agency opens this weekend at the Health Museum in Houston.
"Drugs: Costs & Consequences" will feature replica scenes displaying drug abuse dangers they encounter in the field. The exhibit officially opens Saturday at 10 a.m. at the museum on Herman Drive in the Museum District.
Officials said the exhibit's different displays tell a story of drug-influenced tragedies in our communities.
“I’ve been with DEA for some time now and there are scenes here I’m in awe of that I’ve never seen before,” Sally Sparks, DEA Houston Division spokesperson, said.
The displays range from an apartment showing a baby carriage in a drug-invested home to what a meth lab looks like.
“A replica scene of a closet where parents are getting educated about the warning signs when it comes to their teens,” she said.
Anything drug-related, you will likely come across it here, including narcoterrorism after 9/11.
“It’s actually a piece of the World Trade Center from the scene,” Sparks said. “We also have wreckage from the Pentagon.”
The displays are very impactful.
“It’s an impactful exhibit and some of it is ugly, but it’s the truth,” Ella Hohmann, Health Museum Science communications specialist, said.
The truth is drugs like fentanyl are killing people at an alarming rate.
“This idea that the drug problem doesn’t affect you is a fallacy. It affects everyone,” Hohmann said.
Drug stories of lives lost in Houston are shared in this spot.
“Education is the key prevention is the key,” she said.
That’s why the museum is offering free school bus vouchers to get more middle and high school students to visit the exhibit.
“We want to make it as easy as possible and just to get as many students all around,” Hohmann said.
“It can save a life that’s what it’s all about, making sure our community is educated and safe,” Sparks said.
The DEA traveling exhibit will be housed here until next June.
The exhibit was developed in partnership with The DEA Educational Foundation, The Health Museum, The Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, The National Institute on Drug Abuse, the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, and The Partnership for a Drug-Free America. It premiered Sept. 11, 2002, at the DEA Museum in Arlington, Virginia.