A 'BIG PROBLEM' - HEROIN - RATTLES SMALL-TOWN MILTON

MILTON -- Along with the usual year-end activities at the middle
school here -- a picnic for eighth-graders, a trip to Six Flags Great
America -- students were shuffled into an assembly Friday that no one
saw coming just a few weeks ago.

As the 500 students settled onto bleachers, Milton Police Chief Jerry
Schuetz launched into the un-middle school-like topic of heroin use
among classmates.

It's been that kind of spring in Milton, a city of about 5,670 people
35 miles southeast of Madison. First, swine flu closed the high
school. Then, on May 16, three Milton Middle School boys, all
eighth-graders, overdosed on heroin. All three recovered.

As if the overdoses themselves weren't shocking enough, the details
have stunned people.

One of the boys allegedly stole the heroin, in powder form, from the
bedroom of the mother of one of the other boys, according to police.
After snorting the heroin, the boys started vomiting at a local park
and one passed out.

A fourth teenager who happened to be at the park recognized the signs
of heroin overdose and called a 20-year-old man known around town as a
local heroin user, police said. The man, who was not far away at a
laundromat, assessed the situation, then saved the life of the most
seriously ill boy by injecting him with Narcan, a drug that
counteracts the effects of a heroin overdose.

"Think about that," said Tim Schigur, the middle school principal.
"They know enough to call someone who's a local user to come save
their friend's life. It's amazing we live in a world that has that
kind of skill set."

The police department, working with school officials, decided to
attack the problem aggressively with the assembly.

"This is an attempt to scare them," Lt. John Conger said prior to the
assembly. "Three of their friends damn near died."

'An epidemic'

In the last year, heroin use in Rock County has become "an epidemic,"
with 11 deaths in 13 months, Conger said. Heroin killed 14 people in
Dane County last year, up from eight in 2007.

At Friday's assembly, Schuetz told students they could die from their
first heroin use. He urged them to have a game plan for rejecting peer
pressure. "Say, 'No, I have too many reasons to live.'"

In the audience were two of the three boys who had overdosed. One of
them giggled throughout the 20-minute assembly, disappointing faculty
members. The third boy has skipped town with his mother, who could
face charges as the alleged owner of the heroin, Schuetz said.

During a question-and-answer period, one girl asked what heroin looks
like. Schuetz said it can be a white powder that's snorted or smoked
or a clear liquid that's injected with a needle. (Schuetz later said
he struggled with how explicit to get with children.)

Another student asked, "Why don't people just eat it?" Schuetz said
heroin would seriously impact a person's digestive system.

As the students dispersed, several swarmed around Schuetz, including
one girl who told him she was embarrassed because her brother was one
of the three who had overdosed.

'Such big problems'

Seventh-grader Megan Martin, 13, said everyone around her listened
intently during the assembly. "I just thought we were a little small
town," she said. "I didn't know we had such big problems."

Another seventh-grader, Ben Lima, 13, said he really didn't know what
heroin was and that the assembly helped him realize its dangers.

Schuetz said the boys who overdosed apparently didn't know much about
heroin, either. One told an officer that he thought they were snorting
cocaine.

The investigation into the incident continues, with one of the boys
possibly facing charges for allegedly stealing the heroin and
distributing it to the others.

Schuetz said he has decided not to seek charges against the
20-year-old man, even though he administered a drug (Narcan) without a
license. "We really do feel he saved the boy's life."

On the other hand, there probably won't be a police commendation,
either, he said.