YOUR KID CAN BE AN ADDICT

Parents must be alert, experts say

Drug addiction can begin anywhere -- even in a grocery store.

At age 10, Stephanie Ferraro bought two cans of whipped cream while on a
family vacation at the Jersey Shore and sucked the nitrous oxide from the
nozzle. That seemingly innocent supermarket trip sparked the evolution of a
curious pre-adolescent into a drug addict.

Stephanie, a Mendham resident and now 15, has been in a drug rehabilitation
program for four months battling her craving for cocaine. Her father, Bob,
was able to get her help before she advanced to heroin use. She is one of
65 teen drug addicts being treated at Daytop Village in Mendham Township.

While there's no magic formula to ensure children will remain drug-free,
counselors and other experts said there are things parents can do to deter
drug use: keep track of their children each hour, provide outlets for fun,
give them enough money for what they need and ask for receipts to justify
purchases. One surefire way is to look out for warning signs such as
sucking on a whipped cream nozzle.

"It runs the gamut because it affects everyone so differently. Trust your
instincts. If you think it is, it is," Boonton High School Principal Ken
Hart said.

No one becomes an addict overnight, counselors said. And heroin users can
also be blond, blue-eyed teenagers, once the image of wholesome youth.

"Parents in Morris County like to pretend that heroin is still a drug for
the middle-aged male laying on the streets of Newark or New York. It's not
- -- it's here," said the Rev. Joseph Hennen, executive director of Daytop.
He said when the drug treatment center opened in 1992, only two of the 85
inpatients were treated for heroin addiction. This month there are 15.

On an average, Daytop has 70 teenagers between 13 and 19 years old
receiving treatment for various drug addictions on an in-patient basis, and
20-25 being treated as outpatients five days a week.

Inpatients receive intensely supervised individual, group and family
psychotherapy daily. The sessions are somewhat confrontational, Daytop
Assistant Administrator Jim Curtin said. Outpatients attend school and
therapy at Daytop but go home in the evenings.

Teenagers who are treated solely by outpatient therapy tend to suffer
relapses, medical officials said. Often health insurance plans insist the
addict be treated through an outpatient program because it's initially less
expensive, but millions of dollars are wasted because those programs aren't
effective enough and the teen eventually winds up being treated on an
inpatient basis.

"They want them to fail before they pay for inpatient treatment," Randolph
High School Student Assistance Counselor Maryalice Thomas said of insurance
companies.

"It's close to impossible to have an outpatient treatment program to keep a
kid in a drug-free environment," Hennen said.

Recognizing heroin use can be tricky for parents, counselors said. Use of
the drug is not easily detected.

Venous track marks from hypodermic needles, the most common physical sign,
can be hidden in areas such as the groin, between toes, the outer corner of
the eye, on the tops of feet and in women, vaginally, medical officials said.

New strains of the drug also make it easier to snort and smoke heroin,
masking obvious signs.

"Heroin is a very insidious drug. Parents may not see any major changes,"
said Gregg Benson, chemical dependency program administrator of St. Clare's
Hospital/Boonton Township.

Parents generally don't realize something is amiss, Hennen said, until
their children have been addicted for about two years.

"In the beginning you're a nice person and you're functioning. By the time
you spot weight loss, it's far down the road and your kid is gone," he said.

Detecting warning signs early may prevent further use.

Parents should look for erratic sleep habits, change in friends and
hobbies, missing cash and valuable items and pasty complexions. Asthma-like
symptoms -- a runny nose, shortness of breath and watery eyes -- are also
warning signs, counselors said. Often, addicts claim to be suffering from
hay fever or asthma, so if a child has never been diagnosed with those
ailments, be suspicious, counselors said.

A parent who suspects their child is using heroin should contact a
rehabilitation center for a drug assessment, Hennen said. Urine tests won't
rule out drug use because items available in health food stores or on the
Internet easily mask the drug screening.

Vomiting and nausea are two of the earliest physical signs, school
counselors said. Some addicts will claim that they have a gastrointestinal
bug.

"It's not a stomach virus. It's withdrawal," Thomas said, adding teenage
addicts also tend to fall asleep during school.

Montville community policing officer Letitia Cook warns parents to keep
close tabs on money and items with resale value. Often addicts steal to
support the habit. A bag of heroin -- about one dose -- sells for $7 to $20
on the street. It's likely parents won't notice a few dollars missing from
wallets or purses, she said.

"If they're not rich, they're thieves," Hart said of heroin users.

Identifying heroin use during rebellious teenage years is extremely
difficult. As youngsters hit puberty, their personalities sometimes change.
It is during that period that many teenagers begin drug use. Since heroin
has a calming effect on the personality, it is easy to confuse post-puberty
changes and drug use.

"Parents think, `Oh my God, my kid has gone through a crisis and I finally
got him back,'" Hennen said.

Ryan Carter of Scotch Plains began smoking pot when he was 12, mostly
because he thought it was cool. His mother, Diane Heath, said she noticed
specific changes.

"Before, he'd be home for dinner and all of a sudden he wouldn't be," she
said. Ryan's grades also began to slip and his sleep became erratic as he
moved on to harder drugs such as cocaine and angel dust. "One of the things
I began to hear all the time is `I don't care.'"

After seven months in a rehabilitation program, Carter advises other teens.
"The nerd in school who everyone makes fun of, that's who everyone should
try to be. Be the kid with the pocket protector. He's in Harvard while I'm
in Daytop."

Checked-by: Mike Gogulski