HEROIN STEALS WOMAN'S CHILDHOOD

Krystle O'barske Waking Up To A New Life

VALPARAISO | Krystle O'Barske said she hated heroin when she first
tried it at age 11.

She threw up and was convinced she would never do it again. Two days
later, she was back snorting the drug. "I got high, and I never
left," she said.

The former Lakes of the Four Seasons resident spent the next 10 years
battling an addiction to the illegal drug. She succeeded at first in
hiding behind the cover of a cheerleader and soccer player at Boone
Grove schools, but soon found herself living on the streets and
falling victim to sexual assaults, thefts and beatings.

When not in jail, she made 11 failed visits to rehabilitation, in
addition to five or six attempts at out-patient programs and six
stops at detox centers.

"I always thought I was going to die a junkie, with a needle in my
arm," she said.

Today, the 21-year-old is living in a local half-way house under the
close supervision of the county's new drug court. She has been free
of heroin for more than seven months, which is a personal best.

O'Barske has a big incentive to stay clean. If she fails the drug
court program, she faces up to nine years in prison on three felony
theft charges.

"I'll tell you right now, heroin is everywhere," O'Barske said.

There are no large scale dealers in Porter County, she said. Rather,
local users drive to Chicago, sometimes several times a day, to buy
$10 bags of the drug, she said.

A single bag is enough to stave off withdrawal symptoms, but she
remembers shooting up as many as three bags at a time.

"It takes everything away," O'Barske said of the drug's powerful impact.

"It takes all your problems away. You don't feel anything at all."

She made the leap from snorting the drug to using a needle at age 14,
because it enhances the experience. She said others avoid needles in
an attempt to deny their addiction.

O'Barske's mother, Joyce O'Barske, who described herself as an
easygoing parent, said she thought her daughter may have been smoking
marijuana, but would never have guessed she was using heroin.

She has regrets, but remains by her daughter's side and has no
intention of giving up on her.

"Because I love her and she's my daughter," Joyce sad. "I don't want
her to die yet."

She said parents need to pay close attention to their children's
lives and get to know their friends and their friends' parents.

Krystle O'Barske said she, too, has regrets, including her efforts to
get others hooked on heroin as a way to raise money for her own
habit. She would offer to take the risk of buying drugs for others
and then pocket some of the money.

She said she no longer is in touch with any friends from her past.

If all continues to go well, Krystle O'Barske will spend a total of a
year to 18 months under the drug court's supervision. She is not
scared by the thought of eventually being back out on her own.

"It will just be like a test," she said.