HEROIN ABUSE RISING IN YOUNG CROWD

Official: 'You Make One Mistake, It Will Kill You'

MANSFIELD -- Heroin took the lives of five young people during an
eight-month period in 2003.

In three of those cases, they died before they were old enough to legally
drink alcohol.

"Heroin came back big, very quickly," said Richland County Chief Probation
Officer David Leitenberger. "It's tragic. You make one mistake, it will
kill you."

Mansfield Crime Lab Director Anthony J. Tambasco can quantify the explosion
of the drug's popularity: He processed two heroin cases in 2000 and has
seen 148 cases through the first nine months of this year.

Authorities believe most of the city's heroin comes from Columbus.

"It's doled out, used and it's gone," said Sgt. Michael Bammann of the
METRICH Drug Task Force. "So it's difficult for us to try to impact it
coming back into the community."

Lynne Spencer, director of Crossroads Center for Change, had an 18-year-old
client who came in addicted to heroin and said he'd been using it since he
was 15.

"We're seeing an increase in heroin -- mostly with the younger population,"
said Spencer, adding many teens start out abusing prescription drugs like
OxyContin before migrating to heroin.

Bammann agreed, noting OxyContin can cost $40 to $80 a pill while a package
of heroin can be had on the street for $20.

"Price is always a motivator," Bammann said. "When Oxy's prevalent and
being abused, the heroin is down and when Oxy's down, the heroin becomes
more popular."

Sandy Starr of the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services
said the state has tracked a clear trend toward increased use of heroin by
younger people, many of whom begin by abusing prescription drugs.

One of the reasons heroin carries such a high risk of overdose is the
fluctuation in purity, which ranges from just a few percent to nearly 100
percent pure.

"It just depends on who it comes from and how many times they step on it,"
Bammann said. "When they're using it, they're just not sure how strong it
is. There's no guarantee on the dosage that you're getting."

Someone used to taking heroin that is 25 percent pure who suddenly gets
some that is 75 percent pure, essentially is injecting three times more of
the drug.

Another factor is what it is cut with, which can be almost anything.

"A lot of times, they'll cut it with another drug, like amphetamine,"
Bammann said. "That's like the difference between making a Jack Daniel's
and Coke or making a martini that's all alcohol.

"Taking drugs and cutting them with other drugs, literally with whatever's
available, just doesn't make any sense," he said. "Yet people do it and
people take it."

Dr. Anthony Midkiff, head of emergency services for MedCentral/Mansfield
Hospital, said young people in need of medical treatment are often just
dumped out at the hospital.

"We get a lot of people dumped at the door," he said. "Their friends dump
them, and then they're gone. They don't want to be associated with it."

Richland County Common Pleas Judge James Henson has watched as young people
get hooked on harder drugs.

"I have a great deal of concern about heroin because the children getting
involved don't have any idea about the drugs deadly nature," Henson said.
"It's a cool thing to do and all of a sudden they're hooked, their lives
are destroyed and their parents are attending their funerals."

*Problem at schools*

Diana Hurlow, a guidance counselor at Lexington High School, knows her
school, like all high schools, has a drug problem.

She said at least five or six students have been hospitalized for some type
of drug-related emergency since the May 2003 heroin overdose death of
17-year-old Michael Alan Arnold.

"Very, very serious. Stomachs pumped and things like that. There may even
be more. I don't know," Hurlow said. "We know we have a real problem. We
know we do. Kids have admitted things to us that just make you want to cry.
I'm talking the real hardcore drugs like cocaine, heroin and LSD."

Joshua Clark, who was a friend of Arnold's, has quit drugs and is now
student council president. He knows Lexington is not immune. In fact, he
said students at his school can be at greater risk because of access to
more resources.

"Rich kids with mom and daddy giving them everything they want," Clark said
bluntly. He estimated at least half the 900 students have tried drugs.

Toni Fletcher, a guidance counselor for the science and engineering academy
at Mansfield Senior High, said kids usually start with marijuana.

"Very seldom does a kid start on heroin," she said. "I have worked with a
student who took their mother's prescription drugs because that's what was
available."

While Clark agrees, he used to spend time fighting with his dad about
whether marijuana led to harder drugs.

"It does. You end up somewhere and you're high and someone's got something
else and they're curious," Clark said. "In Mike's case, curiosity killed
the cat. There are kids out there who are real hard."

*Consequences*

Fletcher said there is a high correlation between drug use and student
dropouts.

"They start missing a lot of school. Their grades drop. And with the drug
use, after a while they can't see their way out of it." Fletcher said.

She also sees a strong connection between alcohol and drug use and teenage sex.

Richland County Juvenile Judge Ron Spon sifts through the fallout of teen
drug use.

"Without a doubt, the majority of the young people that end up incarcerated
.. have substance abuse issues," Spon said.

Fletcher has advice for parents and is not shy about sharing it.

"Know what your kids are doing. Know who their friends are. Know where they
are at night and with whom," she said. "It's OK to set guidelines. It's OK
to set curfews. What kids want is for their parents to be involved."

But she knows, sometimes, no amount of intervention is enough.

"I don't want to just blame the parents because sometimes kids are just
kids and they make poor choices," she said. "Not all kids try drugs and
alcohol because they are in a lot of pain. Sometimes they try it because it
is the thing to do at the time with the people they are with."

{SIDEBAR}
Young Death Profiles

Shannon Marie Snowden, 18, died in the basement of her boyfriend's
Lexington home Jan. 8, 2003, a single needlemark found on her arm.

Michael Alan Arnold, 17, was found dead by his grandmother May 3, 2003,
lying on a trampoline behind his parent's home.

Dayna Colburn, 20, died May 30, 2003 on her parents' bathroom floor,
needle-track marks on both arms, drug syringes and a cooking spoon near her
body. In Colburn's case, death was caused by injecting either heroin or
morphine, which is produced by the body from heroin.

Timothy Brauchler, 26, was found dead in a friend's car on Aug. 22, 2003.

Eric Alan Holmes, 29, was found lying in a fetal position on the bedroom
floor of his girlfriend's Lexington apartment Aug. 23, 2003, syringes
stuffed in his pocket, a drug spoon near his head.