E.V. PARENTS WAKE UP TO TEENS' DRUG NIGHTMARES

She earned straight-A's and never broke her curfew. Yet for the same
price as a mocha latte and a muffin, the Gilbert High School junior
was feeding a dangerous drug habit that could kill her. Like other
teens, she bought heroin at school and smoked it between classes in
the school bathrooms.

Last semester, a heroin problem at Gilbert High prompted the
principal to send home a newsletter warning parents and asking for
their help. Last week, parents decided to create a volunteer corps to
patrol the campus.

Gilbert teens are the latest victims of Mexican black tar heroin, a
drug that is becoming more prevalent in Arizona high schools.

"In the past nine months or six months, it seems that a lot of what
was going on in Scottsdale seemed to kind of move to Gilbert," said
Sean Walsh, an addiction specialist at Banner Behavioral Health in
Scottsdale, referring to a two-year investigation by the Maricopa
County Sheriff's Office that exposed a heroin ring targeting
Scottsdale teenagers.

Ric Borom, principal of Tempe's Pinnacle Charter School and a former
Gilbert school resource officer, said that heroin has been in Gilbert
for quite a while, but, "it's definitely on the upswing." Gilbert
High principal Charlie Santa Cruz openly warned parents about a rise
in drug use in a monthly newsletter sent home to parents in December.
He wrote that his staff continued to be "concerned about the rise in
substance use among some of our students." He listed a long list of
drugs being used, starting it off with heroin.

"We have also taken deliberate steps to identify locations on the
campus where students may be engaged in this type of unlawful and
dangerous behavior," he wrote.

Since Nov. 1, 2006, 13 students at Gilbert High School have been
disciplined for drugs other than marijuana, although the district
does not specify which drugs. Other Gilbert high schools saw between
two and four such cases.

"The biggest issue is parent involvement," said Tava Udall, a Gilbert
High mother. "Look through their backpacks. And ask questions. If
there is a piece of tinfoil in your child's backpack -- hello --
that's not a science project."

Many heroin addicts use tinfoil to heat the drug before smoking it.

A Mother's Story

One Gilbert mother, who has requested anonymity due to the stigma of
heroin use, said she was totally unaware of her honor-roll daughter's
descent into addiction last fall. A stayat-home mom, she was always
there for her children when they left in the morning, returned from
school, and when they came home at curfew time. She thought that
meant her children could never hide a drug addiction from her.

Her 16-year-old daughter, a girl she describes as very motivated and
well-behaved, started avoiding home and quit hanging out with her old
best friends.

Call it a mother's intuition or, as she does, divine intervention --
but after time spent praying for an answer, she had a dream in which
her daughter was doing drugs at a party. She couldn't shake the
image, and soon afterward, she bought a home drug test.

Her daughter fell to her knees in the bathroom, sobbing, when she had
to take it.

"That's when I first realized perhaps my worst nightmare was coming
true, when she refused to do it," she said. Eventually, she convinced
her daughter to comply. The results showed evidence of heroin,
cocaine, prescription painkillers and marijuana.

Within seconds, things escalated as her daughter attempted to run away.

The mother chased her daughter outside of their spacious Gilbert
home, tackled her on the lawn and wrestled her cell phone away -- she
knew that's how she would get in touch with her dealers.

The girl still fled, though after a few hours she came home. Her
mother discovered she had been using heroin for about four months.
She had spent close to $10 a day, smoking the drug in the bathroom
between classes.

The next morning, she had severe withdrawal symptoms -- nausea,
vomiting, diarrhea, tremors -- when she went for an intake exam for
drug treatment. The doctors recommended detox, but there were no beds
available for adolescents anywhere in the Valley. She had no choice
but to admit her daughter to a hospital emergency room that night to
go through the toughest part of detoxification.

Doctors gave her fluids to keep her hydrated, but her mother wouldn't
allow any painkillers during the detox.

"I wanted her to experience what it's like to withdraw from these
terrible drugs, and I know that sounds maybe inhumane, but as a mom,
I knew she wasn't going to die from it. ... I wanted her to feel the
aches and pains of what she had done to her body so she wouldn't do it again."

Two days later, a bed finally opened at Banner Desert Behavioral
Health Center, where she completed her inpatient treatment.

More than 80 days later, her daughter is still clean, but her life
has been changed forever.

She won't go back to Gilbert High School, choosing instead to attend
a private school where she won't be confronted by her old dealers.

"It's the scariest thing I've ever gone through, and if I can prevent
one other family from going through this nightmare, then it's worth
telling this story," her mother said. "I always made a point to hug
her when she got home at night to see if she had been drinking -- you
can smell the alcohol. But the telltale signs that our parents would
use can't tell about these drugs. It's changing."

Parent Patrol

The Gilbert mom has joined a group of concerned parents who want to
get heroin off the high school campus.

Six parents met with Santa Cruz and other district administrators on
Tuesday to discuss what they can do to help. One plan the parents
came up with is to create a volunteer corps to stand outside the
school's bathrooms, keeping a watchful eye on who goes in and out.

"That's the number one spot they're doing (heroin)" said Udall, whose
daughter attends the school. "In elementary (school) they have tons
of parents in there every day... When you get to high school, it's
over and done. And why? Because that's when they need us the most.
.. Our goal is to get the parents who are willing to come in one day
a week and maybe we can make a difference."

The parents would also enforce the dress code and other small rules
they feel are being overlooked.

"If they don't enforce the simple rules, how can they enforce the big
ones? You can't," she said. "The language, the dress code, the
displays of affection -- that will escalate. ... The kids think it's
a joke because it's not being enforced."

However, Udall was impressed that the principal openly admitted there
was a problem and asked for help.

District officials say programs they offer, such as character
education, help children learn refusal skills, and that parent forums
- -- like one coming up March 22 -- educate parents on warning signs of drug use.

Unlike schools in the Scottsdale and Cave Creek unified school
districts, Gilbert High does not use drug-sniffing dogs in its hallways.

Some students, like Leslee Payne, 16, don't think the district is
doing enough to stop the heroin problem.

"Everyone knows who does (heroin)," she said, adding that, while she
has heard the school is trying to root out the dealers, she hasn't
seen any action taken. She doubts the drugeducation programs the
school touts will help.

"I don't think it'll do anything," she said. "Whoever is using heroin
isn't going to stop because of some talk they give."

She believes at least one adult has come on campus to deal heroin,
but said she still feels safe at the school because she stays away
from the users.

The Gilbert Police Department does not have records of heroin cases
by age, but it reports that in 2005, there were 18 reported heroin
cases in the town. In 2006, that number more than doubled to 48.

Police Sgt. Andrew Duncan said he's not ready to say it's any sort of
heroin trend.

The Drug Enforcement Agency's 2006 report for Arizona cited a 40
percent decrease in the price of heroin in 2004, indicating an
abundant supply. The report said purity levels in heroin have
increased some 7 percent in the past two years. A current trend in
the Phoenix division, according to the report, is the increasing
presence of heroin in public schools.

In general, more children have abused prescription drugs than heroin,
according to Leslie Bloom, executive director of the Partnership for
a Drug-Free America's state chapter.

Bloom cited a survey by the Arizona Criminal Justice Commission which
shows that just 2.8 percent of high school seniors in Maricopa County
have tried heroin, compared with 20 percent who have abused prescription drugs.

Heroin in America Heroin: A highly-addictive depressant painkiller
typically sold as a powder or as a black sticky substance. Processed
from morphine, a naturally occurring substance extracted from the
seed pod of the Asian poppy plant. It creates a surge of euphoria
when snorted, smoked or injected.

Mexican black tar heroin: The type of heroin used in Arizona, most
coming across the Mexican border, and less expensive than other types
of heroin. Resembling small bars of hard roofing tar, it is smoked,
often by inhaling the vapors produced when heated from below, known
as "chasing the dragon." Experts say some teens wrongly believe
smoking the drug is safer.

Timeline

1898 -- 1910: Heroin is marketed as a nonaddictive morphine
substitute and a cough medicine for children.

1914: The Harrison Narcotics Tax Act is passed to control the sale of
heroin, allowing it to be sold for medical purposes.

1924: U.S. Congress bans the sale, importation or manufacture of heroin.

1970: Time magazine publishes an article documenting heroin use among
wealthy adolescents in large cities, noting that 224 teens died from
heroin the previous year.

1970s: Heroin becomes popular as part of the rock 'n' roll scene;
singer Janis Joplin dies from a heroin overdose.

1970s: Use among American servicemen in Vietnam increases. Some take
their habits home with them.

1990s: Heroin again makes a comeback as celebrities in the grunge
music scene overdose on it.

Mid-1990s: "Heroin chic" becomes a popular fashion statement,
characterized by runway models with sallow appearances, sunken eyes
and jutting bones.

1997: A report by the national Household Survey on Drug Abuse
estimates 81,000 new heroin users. A large proportion of these are
smoking, snorting or sniffing heroin instead of injecting it, and 87
percent of the new users are under age 26. By comparison, in 1992,
only 61 percent were under 26.

2005: In Maricopa County, Sheriff Joe Arpaio announces that 146
people, mostly teens in Scottsdale, are buying, selling or using
drugs as part of a "heroin ring." He says numerous illegal immigrants
were arrested in connection with the ring.

2006: Sheriff's deputies arrest five suspected dealers, including
possibly the main heroin supplier in the Scottsdale ring.

2006: Social workers begin to notice more Gilbert teens becoming
involved in heroin use.

If you go What: Gilbert school district's annual drug prevention
seminar When: 6:30 p.m., March 22 Where: Mesquite Junior High School,
130 W. Mesquite St., Gilbert Who: Parents, guardians and other adults
are invited, though the district asks that no children or teenagers attend.

Information: Susan Cadena at (480) 497-3300, Ext. 275.