FIGHTING HEROIN NEW REPORT HIGHLIGHTS CRUCIAL REFORMS

Texas Sen. Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, preaches the truth about this point:
No magic bullet exists in the fight against teens using drugs. The problem
is simply too pervasive and complex for any one answer, especially now that
heroin has become a drug of choice among some Dallas-Fort Worth youths.

Nevertheless, families in this area should not give up. Answers exist. This
battle can be won.

A new University of North Texas report contains some particularly important
recommendations. They originally were presented at the North Texas Regional
Drug Summit on Dec. 2. The report breaks the ideas down into several useful
categories. Here's a sampling:

LAW ENFORCEMENT

* The Dallas-Fort Worth area needs Congress to designate it as a high
intensity drug area. That would release substantial federal funds that local
officials could use in their fight against Mexican and Colombian traffickers
who have dumped heroin and cocaine into this market. Some regional officials
believe Congress will soon provide the designation. But until then, the
metroplex remains the only major metropolitan region to lack the important
designation. That must change.

* The Texas family code should pay more attention to juveniles who commit
truancy or break curfews. These "at-risk" children can easily become drug
users.

* Washington should create a national database that will help law
enforcement officials across America better track drug gangs.

PREVENTION AND INTERVENTION

* Schools need strong, consistent and well-publicized drug policies. They
also need licensed chemical dependency counselors.

* Schools and communities alike should establish peer support groups and
mentor programs.

* Communities should create hot lines and safe houses for teenage drug
users.

* Schools need follow-up programs for children who return to campus after
receiving drug treatment.

USE RESOURCES WISELY

* The Texas Education Agency should invest funds in school prevention
programs.

* State authorities need more power to shut down places that sell alcohol
and cigarettes to youths, which can lead to deeper addictions.

* The state should invest money in successful, community-based drug
programs; don't worry about starting programs from scratch.

* State officials should link a teenager's receipt of a driver's license to
that child and one parent successfully completing a life-skills class.

LISTEN TO KIDS

* Teenagers want adults to value them, period.

* Teens say that the media should deglamorize drugs. Show them what happens
when someone becomes a human vegetable after an overdose.

* Families need to establish accountability relationships.

* Families should create a nonthreatening environment where children can
talk about drugs with their parents.

THE POLITICAL ARENA

* Federal and state authorities must work together to make sure Texas
borders are secure enough to stop drug smugglers.

* Texas legislators should include drug treatment in health insurance
policies offered within the state.

* Texas lawmakers should consider drug pushers guilty of criminally
negligent homicide if a child overdoses from a dealer's drugs.

None of these ideas alone will win this area's battle against heroin and
other killer drugs. But they certainly represent a creative, crucial first
step. These and other recommendations included in the University of North
Texas report can help communities, families and children themselves take the
necessary steps to prevent drugs from consuming one more teenager's life.
The stakes could not be more serious.

YOU HAVE THE POWER

Want to find out more about the new University of North Texas report? About
how you can be involved in North Texas' war on drugs? Write to state Sen.
Florence Shapiro, 8117 Preston Road, Suite 687, Dallas, Texas 75225, or call
her at (214) 363-5031.

Checked-by: "Rolf Ernst"