SCITUATE POLICE: HEROIN STILL A BIG PROBLEM

Parents Told Heroin, Cocaine Can Be Found At The High School

SCITUATE - Police say they know of nearly 500 heroin addicts under
the age of 30 on the South Shore.

"It's scary how many kids have gotten themselves addicted to heroin,"
Scituate police Lt. Detective W. Michael Stewart told a parents forum
last night. Heroin is cheap, Stewart said - $50 for a bag that an
addict would use for three hits. OxyContin, which can cost $40 for
one 40 milligram pill, is usually too expensive for most teens to use
consistently.

The prevalence of heroin and OxyContin in the area may be what's
keeping methamphetamine from gaining a foothold in the area, Stewart
said. He said that police are unaware of any kids in Scituate using
methamphetamine, though they do know of some adults who use the drug
that has become a scourge in the Midwest.

"It is coming," he said. "When it comes, we're going to have major
problems." Stewart and Detective Robert Rappold, who are members of
the South Shore Drug Task Force, spoke to parents last night at a
forum at Scituate High School about drug use in town. The
discussion, which also featured Scituate High School teacher Steve
Maguire, was sponsored by Scituate's Community of Concern. Rappold
said that one drug that is everywhere in town is cocaine. "Our
informants tell us that cocaine in this town is rampant," he said.
"It's probably the most abused drug in town." Other drugs in the area
include klonopin (known as "k-pins") Ritalin, Vicodin and Xanax.

Stewart said they're all available at the high school, and a lot of
it can be found at the middle school level, too.

Rappold said police noticed young teenagers using inhalants like hair
spray and gasoline in alleys down by the harbor last summer. "Kids
that age don't have a lot of money," he explained. Dom D'Arcangelo,
the Scituate police DARE officer, estimated that 30 to 40 of the
town's 250 8th graders are regular substance users. Maguire told
parents that the worst excuse by adults to justify alcohol or drug
use by their kids is that "'we all did this as kids." "To me, it's
absolutely horrifying when I get that response," he said. "'It's a
completely different time." Maguire said that some of the warning
signs of drug use include deteriorating family relationships, changes
in behavior, and hanging out with a new group. He said that if
parents find drug paraphernalia in their child's room, it's probably
not their first time using drugs.

"'You can assume they've been doing it for at least two years," he
said. Stewart told parents at the forum that while he's not usually
very big on public speaking, he was inspired to speak out because
drug use has gotten so much worse over the past decade.

"I'd love to stand here and tell you in Scituate we're insulated from
the drugs in the city. We're not," he said. "What the kids are facing
today is downright scary." Scituate's Community of Concern is
presenting two more programs on drug use this month. Prevention
specialist Jeffrey Wolfsberg will talk about prevention at 7 p.m.
March 14, and intervention at 7 p.m. March 16. Both programs will
be held at Gates Intermediate School.