MORRIS DRUG OVERDOSE DEATHS HIT RECORD: 30

Mendham Summit Looks For Ways To Stem Wave Of Abuse

MENDHAM -- A record 30 people have died from drug overdoses in Morris
County this year -- the highest number since 24 people died in 2002
- -- and toxicology tests are pending on three suspected overdose
deaths, the Morris County Prosecutor's Office said on Wednesday.

The number was revealed at the Parents-in-Partnership Drug Awareness
Summit on Wednesday at the Daytop drug rehabilitation center,
sponsored by the prosecutor's office, the Morris County schools
superintendent and Daytop-New Jersey.

More than 250 educators, parents and police officers attended. The
summit was geared to inform parents and educators about what drugs
are popular in Morris County and how to spot usage in youngsters.

Often Heroin

Many of the overdose deaths involved heroin, although most involved a
combination of drugs. One of the deaths is suspected to involve
fentanyl, another opiate, which is more potent than heroin and often
leads to overdoses, said Morris County Prosecutor Michael M. Rubbinaccio.

"The drugs being abused today still include heroin, cocaine, morphine
and marijuana, but also include the abuse of fentanyl and
prescription medications," he said.

Among teenagers, prescription painkillers are popular, experts and
teens at the summit said.

Christina, for example, told the audience that she was only 11 years
old when she started getting high from an assortment of prescription
painkillers.

"I started using every day. I started cutting class more often," said
the 17-year-old Morris County girl, who now is in rehabilitation. She
was joined by two other Morris County teenagers, Chris, 17, and
Brian, 18, who explained in detail what got them hooked and why they
couldn't stop.

Brian began smoking marijuana when he was 13, and the habit soon
progressed to cocaine. Chris started smoking marijuana when he was 15
and drank alcohol on the side.

"I smoked it every day,"said Chris, whose last name, like those of
the other teens, was withheld.

"It almost ruined my relationship with my parents."

"Ninety percent use drugs for the reason that drugs exist -- to take
away pain," said the Rev. Joseph Hennen, Daytop's vice president, who
moderated the discussion.

Brian said he began using drugs to get back at his mother, who
revealed to him that his dad wasn't his biological father -- a fact
that angered him.

Christina resorted to drug use out of loneliness. Chris said drugs
were part of a "subculture" in high school, and he thought he could
balance out his life by using drugs as a release from school and
other activities.

The teenagers have been at Daytop for varying lengths of time, and
they said they're somewhat apprehensive about what awaits them upon
reentering society.

"It's a whole new different start for me," Brian said. "I'm worried a
little bit, but I'm taking this place very seriously."

Chris summarized his experience by saying, "The pain to remain the
same is greater than the pain of change."

The audience gave a standing ovation to the teenagers, who received
warm hugs from Hennen. That panel discussion was one of several meant
to impress upon parents just how severe the effects of drugs can be
on a child's life if their use goes undetected.

U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Christopher Christie addressed the
audience at the beginning of the event, which was moderated by Rubbinaccio.

The summit was held in the wake of this summer's Operation
Painkiller, when the Prosecutor's Office conducted a sweep of arrests
of young people charged with being involved with the sale or
possession of prescription painkillers.

Special Agent Douglas S. Collier, a public information officer for
the New Jersey division of the Drug Enforcement Administration, gave
a PowerPoint presentation that detailed abuse of prescription drugs
including Vicodin, Xanax and OxyContin.

Collier said that some of these drugs -- including OxyContin -- are
time-released to provide pain relief for 12 hours. He said teenagers
abuse them by crushing them up and chewing or snorting them to remove
the time-release effect and get "all of it now."

Collier said that 15 million OxyContin pills were produced in 2000,
and just four years later that number rose to 29 million.

Fentanyl, a powerful painkiller typically used by cancer and AIDS
patients, is another drug that's now being abused more often, said
Collier. He added that people stick the drug into the side of their
mouths, where it's absorbed into the body very quickly for a high.

Fentanyl also can be used therapeutically in the form of a Duragesic
patch, which slowly releases the drug into the system.

Collier said people have been known to find used patches from the
garbage, microwave them to dry them out, and then attempt to smoke the residue.

Robert Weber, who for the past 17 years has been the chief narcotics
officer for the Morris County Prosecutor's Office, told the audience
that abuse of certain types of drugs can be cyclical.

He said marijuana seems to be the most abused drug.

Weber said a large majority of adults get hooked on prescription
painkillers, usually because they have a legitimate medical
condition. That's not the case with children.

"It's easy to get, it's easy to use, it's safer to obtain," Weber
said. "It doesn't carry the stigma that other drugs (do)."

Weber also said that parents are grossly misinformed about their
children's behavior when the youngsters are unsupervised. Weber
reviewed statistics that said, for instance, that 80 percent of
parents polled said that alcohol and drugs wouldn't be at a party
attended by their child.

Meanwhile, 50 percent of the children polled said they would be present.

Similarly, 98 percent of the parents were under the impression that
there would be parental supervision during a party, whereas 33
percent of the youngsters said the parents wouldn't be there.

"We have to pierce the idea that a lot of people have --'not my kid,
not my town,'" Weber said. "Until communities acknowledge that, (it
will be) difficult to bring resources to the table to combat (the) problem."

Weber said children have access to money to buy these drugs, either
through after-school jobs or allowances.

"Kids have time to search," he said. "They're not going to
Morristown. They're going to Newark."

Weber stressed the need for parental involvement, and the need for
them to hold their children accountable for their actions.

"If you don't hold them accountable, the criminal justice system
will," Weber said.

Weber advised that parents examine the contents of their medicine
cabinets, throw out any prescriptions that have expired, and keep a
close eye on the ones that haven't.

Heidi Wing, a mom from Madison with three children, said she planned
to take the information she learned and bring it to her local
parent-teacher association.

"I was surprised by it, absolutely," she said of the program. She
added that she was most shocked by the abuse of prescription painkillers.

"I knew it was out there," Wing said. "I never thought, for instance,
to lock up my medical cabinet."

The day, which began at 9 a.m., concluded shortly after 2 p.m.
Educators including John Kazmark, Larry Reynolds and John Adamus, the
school superintendents of Mountain Lakes, Pequannock and Hanover Park
Regional, respectively, addressed the audience about what school
districts are doing to combat drug abuse.

They were joined by Patrolman Scott Arentowicz, the Randolph High
School resource officer; Marcia Brands, a therapist; and Beth
Jacobson, coordinator of Municipal Alliance.

One tip that came from the panel was for parents to inspect their
children's rooms, as well as their cars, and to keep track of their
Internet use.

Angelo Valente of the Partnership for a Drug Free New Jersey
concluded the day by playing multiple public address announcements on
a large screen concerning drug use and parental intervention.