My name is Tina Murphy and I am a Special Agent with the DEA. I have been a DEA agent for 21 years and have worked in several different offices, to include New York, Virginia, Pennsylvania, and now Massachusetts. I have had a lot of really interesting and fun assignments in my career including undercover, surveillance, arrests, raids, defensive tactics instructor, etc. I have two children, a dog, and I am married to a DEA agent.

The job I have now with DEA is something completely different than enforcement work. I am a Demand Reduction Coordinator. There is a Demand Reduction Coordinator assigned to each field division in DEA. I am assigned to the New England Field Division. My job is to try to reduce the demand for drugs in our country by educating people, especially kids, about the dangers of drugs, and try to prevent them from using them. My day is never the same. I travel between three states, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. There is another Demand Reduction Coordinator who handles the other three New England states. I provide training and give presentations to all types of groups... kids, teachers, parents, community groups, business owners, etc. I work with people from various law enforcement, prevention and treatment agencies.

Some times I just talk to people about the dangers of drugs and other times I get involved in some really fun activities. Every year I work with the Boys and Girls Clubs of New England and the Pawtucket Red Sox (minor league team). We sponsor a banner day, where all of the different clubs make drug prevention banners and bring them to the opening baseball game and display them on the field. It's a great day at the ball park and a great learning experience. Sometimes we bring a DEA helicopter to a school to show everyone, while we talk about living a drug -free lifestyle. In the summer, DEA and the Boston Police have taken kids from summer camps on a cruise on the Boston Harbor and we did lots of fun activities. I go to talk to kids in elementary, middle, high schools and colleges. We are always looking for different ways to get our message out that DRUGS ARE HARMFUL. As I said in the beginning my day is always different and very challenging