The StarLedger
1 Star Ledger Plaza
Newark, NJ 071021200
Reader Forum letters: 200 words max
Speaking Up columns: 500 words max

Town confronts drug problem after loss of three young lives

By Rudy Larini
STARLEDGER STAFF

For the past week, officials and residents in bluecollar Saddle Brook have
been trying to come to grips with the emotional ills and substance abuse that
drove three young people to their deaths in less than a week.

Two killed themselves by inhaling carbon monoxide, while the third, a close
friend of one of the suicide victims, died of a drug overdose.

Patrolman Len Azzarone, who produces a weekly police department cable
television show in which wrestling superhero "K.J. Tubtowne" delivers his
"Body Slam on Drugs" message, said he was particularly rankled by one news
account of the three deaths implying that Saddle Brook is "blind" to its drug
problem.

'Doing more than most'

"I took personal offense at that," he said. "We are not ignoring the
problem. We are doing more than most towns do. But it's a problem that's not
easily solvable, or a lot of towns would have solved it a long time ago."

"Like every other town, Saddle Brook is not drugfree," said Mayor Raymond
Santa Lucia. "It's just sad and unfortunate that three young people lost
their lives due to their involvement, to one degree or another, with drugs."

"I don't think there's anything different going on in Saddle Brook than in
any other town," said Anthony Rizzo, a suicide prevention specialist on the
Bergen County Mental Health Board. "Unfortunately, drugs are out there, and
we live in an increasingly stressful society."

Diane Ryerson, a health professional who has studied suicide extensively,
said drugs and depression are a lethal twosome because people feeling low
often resort to drugs to ease their pain.

"Young people having their first bout with depression use drugs to try to
medicate themselves," she said. "They think drugs or alcohol are going to
make them feel better, but they go past that point, and it makes them feel
much worse."

Bergen County became the focus of a national spotlight on the problem of
youth suicide a decade ago after four Bergenfield teenagers made headlines
when they killed themselves by inhaling car fumes in a garage.

Two of the Saddle Brook victims, a young couple reportedly bedeviled by
both drug abuse and parental disapproval of their romance, died of carbon
monoxide poisoning in what is being described as a lovers' suicide pact.
Christopher Peterson, 24, and his 18yearold girlfriend, Anne Marie
Martinez, left suicide notes before closing her parent's garage door with the
engine of his sports car running on May 5.

But the death of the third person five days later is so far being called a
drug overdose since no evidence of suicide has been uncovered. Erik Lemmer,
20, was found dead in his house with a syringe lying next to his body.
Authorities are awaiting the results of toxicology tests that would confirm
he died of a heroin overdose. Lemmer was described as a close friend of
Martinez and was reported to have been depressed over her death.

Research over the past decade since the four Bergenfield deaths has shown
that the majority of all suicides, especially among young people, are the
product of a clinical mental illness such as manic depression or
schizophrenia.

"It is very rare for any young person to commit suicide unless they have a
preexisting emotional disorder," said Columbia University professor David
Shaffer, a noted suicide researcher. "So our approach is to find these
people, diagnose them and treat them."

But that is easier said than done.

Suicide is the third leading cause of death for young people from 15 to 24
years old. The suicide rate for that age group has risen threefold from 4.5
to 13.5 per 100,000 since 1950, according to a statistics compiled by the
federal Centers for Disease Control.

A 1995 survey of New Jersey high school students by the state Division of
Family Health Services revealed that a shocking 9 percent had attempted
suicide at least once in the past year, while 22 percent had "seriously
considered" taking their own lives.

Experts warn that anyone who talks about or attempts suicide should never
be ignored.

"It is a desperate form of communication that they are miserable and cannot
cope," Ryerson said.

In February, two Vineland teenagers took their own lives and friends later
said the pair often had talked of suicide, though no one took them seriously.

New Jersey's overall suicide rate of seven per 100,000 is at the bottom of
state rankings, far lower than the national average of 12 for every 100,000
people. Experts attribute the state's low rate to factors such as the ready
availability of counseling and support services in urban areas and the
relatively high percentage of minorities, who commit suicide at a lower rate
than whites.

Schools pitch in

Suicide prevention is part of most New Jersey school health programs that
teach students how to handle stress.

Saddle Brook Schools Superintendent Harry Groveman said such coping skills
are taught at the township high school, which all three victims attended
before dropping out or graduating. He also said he has asked his staff to be
vigilant in trying to identify "disaffected" students by looking for telltale
warning signs such as excessive absenteeism or a sudden drop in grades or
loss of interest in school.

"Our guidance people have been instructed by me to seek them out ask them,
'What's up? How are things going?"' he said.

Saddle Brook Mayor Santa Lucia said authorities are investigating the three
township deaths in an effort to determine who supplied the victims with
drugs.

"People who are selling drugs, especially to these three people, are
murderers in my opinion," the mayor said.

"Drugs are more prevalent now than they ever were," he said. "Everybody is
wrestling with this problem. There's no way we can stop it, but maybe we can
educate the public and not have something like this happen again."