PILL POPPING: TEENS STEALING DRUGS FROM MEDICINE CABINETS

Milford, Pa. -- When Danielle Caggiano moved to Matamoras from Long
Island she wanted to know what teens her age did for fun.

So she asked her classmates at Delaware Valley High School.

"Watch TV, have sex or do drugs," is what they told her, the
16-year-old Caggiano said.

Pike County has a growing teen drug problem, according to Westfall
police. During the 2004-2005 school year, police made more than 30
drug-related arrests between Delaware Valley High School and Middle
School. Six of the arrests were made in one day, Westfall police
Chief Mark Moglia said.

Many of the drug arrests involved marijuana, but a large number
involved prescription drugs, Moglia said.

"The kids usually take the pills from home, bring them to school and
disperse among themselves or sell it," said Moglia, who said many of
the pills come from parents' medicine cabinets.

The most common pills found were OxyContin and Percocet, trade names
for the addictive pain reliever oxycodone.

Drug arrests at the schools did drop significantly during the
2005-2006 school year, police said. The exact number was not yet available.

Still, growing anecdotal evidence has prompted the Pike County Health
Fund to open a new teen substance abuse center in Milford.

The Pike County Teen Alcohol and Drug Resource Center opened a few
months ago. It assesses the next level of care for teens who abuse
alcohol or drugs, according to Mary Stanley, a clinical social worker
in charge of the program.

Pike County is one of the fastest growing counties in the country
with an influx of people from New York City and neighboring counties
such as Orange County, N.Y.

Mary Beth Nied, a senior at Delaware Valley High School said some
students who move in from New York City must find new ways to
entertain themselves.

Nied said she and her friends often take walks in the woods or go
swimming and fishing. These activities are fun, she said, but not so
much for someone from out of town.

"They led more fast-paced lives," Nied said.

Of course, illegal drug use is not a problem isolated to Pike County.
At Monroe-Woodbury High School in Woodbury, N.Y., police say
marijuana is the most popular drug with the occasional instance of a
prescription drug.

"They have drugs like any other school," said Woodbury police Chief
Robert Kwiatkowski, who noted a lot of the drugs come from New York
City, Newburgh, N.Y., and Middletown, N.Y. "A school is nothing but a
microcosm of society itself and to say that it's not would be irresponsible."

According to data that school districts report to the state,
Monroe-Woodbury School District cited 15 instances of use possession
or sale of drugs during the 2004-2005 school year. The Pine Bush
School District, which draws students from three New York counties,
had 50 reported instances of use possession or sale of drugs in 2004-2005.

The teen drug problem hasn't hit home for many parents, according to
a recent survey by The National Center on Addiction and Substance
Abuse at Columbia University.

The survey found that one-third of teens and nearly half of
17-year-olds attend house parties where parents are present, yet
teens still use prescription drugs, cocaine or Ecstasy, as well as
drinking and smoking marijuana.

And making parents a part of the prevention process is one of the
missions of the teen substance abuse center in Milford.

"Families are ashamed if their children are involved in substance
abuse," said Stanley, who said this stigma often keeps people away
from prevention.

"Stress and heredity and so many other factors contribute to drug
use," she said. "It is nothing for which to be ashamed."

Reporter Kristina Wells contributed to this report.