About me
Rockwell Herron
Beginning in 2007, while still an active DEA agent, I began developing an intense drug prevention lecture for my own children and their classmates. By the time of my retirement from DEA in 2021 I had spoken to more than 600 groups of students in the USA and 14 other countries to about 140,000 young people. The program is called “I Choose My Future,” or “Yo Elijo Mi Futuro” when I lecture in Spanish, and lasts 60-90 minutes. It is an honest and emotional presentation that shows students, school staff and parents the reality of drug abuse today and how that abuse impacts the individual, the family, school, community, country and broader world.
I spent 31 years as a DEA Special Agent investigating drug trafficking at the local, national, and international levels. I strongly believe in the law enforcement mission but I also believe that youth education is the only true way we can get our society to move away from so much suffering from drug abuse. I use my career experiences, as well as my experience in raising three daughters, as the basis of my presentations to show students the true impact of substance abuse on the individual, the family, school, city, nation, and the global community. The current presentations are the results of 15 years of testing these messages with youth audiences across the world. I teach in both English and Spanish and have a history of engaging large audiences regardless of ethnic, geographic, or socio-economic boundaries. I have a Masters in Education and have received an honorary doctorate from the National Autonomous University of Mexico for my success in educating the youth of Mexico.
Upon retiring from DEA in 2021, I accepted a position as “Alcohol and Other Drug Ambassador” for the San Diego County Office of Education. I support the Enrique S. Camarena Educational Foundation as the Director of Outreach. I frequently represent the World Boxing Council (WBC) and WBC University by providing presentations and training resources to boxing communities in the USA and Mexico. I am on the advisory board for The Song For Charlie Foundation.