ADDICTION HURTS ALL OF US

There's nothing pretty or glamorous about drug addiction. If you don't
believe that, we urge you to take the time to read today's installment of
"Decades of Addiction-Drugs in North Central Mass."

The fifth part of our special 10-part installment focuses on A Day in the
Life of the drug problem in North Central Massachusetts. It includes the
story of Scott, a Leominster man who told us he starts every day by
shooting heroin.

Scott, 42, who agreed to speak to the Sentinel & Enterprise if his name
wasn't revealed, has used heroin on and off for 14 years. "The van is a
good thing to get high in," he said, locking the doors, shortly before he
shot up. "I can't believe this ... this is what I do every day, just like
you guys brushing your teeth."

Scott described in detail how once he became addicted to heroin, he has
been unable to stop for good.

"It's really kind of a sad existence, it really is," he said. "I regret it.
I got reeled right into a full-blown junkie, and I knew nothing about it. I
knew nothing about sick or having to get that rush again." Scott is just
one of the many heroin and cocaine addicts who call North Central
Massachusetts their home, often stealing, selling their bodies or borrowing
from friends to pay for their fix.

And while people like Scott illustrate how dangerous and addictive heroin
is, Polly Blodgett, a resident of Leyte Road in Fitchburg, has to live with
the violence and lawlessness that illegal drug use and trafficking brings
with it. It's not uncommon for Blodgett to hear "screaming and hollering"
or even gunshots right outside her front door at the Green Acres housing
complex in Fitchburg. "The scariest thing I've heard is gunshots. You can't
go out in the front yard or back yard without wondering who'll get shot
next," Blodgett told the Sentinel & Enterprise at her home in December.
"You just hope you're not in the crossfire."

And this installment shows how drugs can hurt people in good neighborhoods
too. Highland Avenue resident Catherine Aldrich experienced a scare last
summer when a 50-person melee broke out in front of her house. "We were
watching a movie, and I heard a sound come up, I thought it was the
surround sound," Aldrich told the Sentinel & Enterprise at her home in
January. "I went to the window, and I heard yelling. People were pushing
and shoving, and then there was a gunshot. Then everyone scattered."
Aldrich, who moved with her family from North Andover to her new home near
Fitchburg State College, said she's was surprised by the amount of drug
crime in the community.

"I knew it was going to be a city, but I was so naive about it. I never
heard anything about Fitchburg. I wasn't aware how much crime there is
around here, and it's such a small city," she said.

We hope that as we give people an in-depth look at just how serious the
problem is, officials and residents will join together to commit to winning
the war on drugs.