News (Media Awareness Project) - US MA: Drug Forum Offers Resources, Insight |
| Title: | US MA: Drug Forum Offers Resources, Insight |
| Published On: | 2004-11-18 |
| Source: | Saugus Advertiser (Saugus, MA) |
| Fetched On: | 2008-01-17 18:51:26 |
DRUG FORUM OFFERS RESOURCES, INSIGHT
For the better part of a month and a half town officials have been
cautioning that there is a drug and alcohol abuse problem among young
adults and teenagers in Saugus. But nothing makes it more apparent than
reading the most recent fire log.
On Tuesday, Nov. 9 a call was made to the department to report a
24-year-old female overdosed on drugs. Again on Friday, Nov. 12 a mother
called the department to report her 24-year-old son had taken 54 Adavans.
Items like these are all too common in both the police and fire logs.
In order to help combat this problem, a group of town officials and
professionals on the issue of drug and alcohol abuse held a forum on the
Saugus cable access channel last Thursday. The forum, a call-in program,
addressed everything from warning signs of an addiction to hotline numbers
that can be used to receive help to recent new programming aimed to prevent
this problem from continuing in the middle school.
During the forum, School Superintendent Dr. Keith Manville told viewers
that the group of officials and professionals weren't there to do anything
more than help get information out to residents.
The impetus of the forum and revitalization of the Saugus Speaks Out
Committee was a survey taken by both middle and high school students that
indicated there is a serious drug and alcohol abuse problem among these
individuals.
"We believe this is more than a school problem. This is a town problem,"
Manville said.
As he has mentioned before, Manville said a red flag for him was that
results showed 20 percent of eighth graders at Belmonte Middle School said
they went home to an empty house and drank alone.
"This is a community problem. Our goal is not to place blame or beg, it's
merely to dispense information," Manville said. "We invite you to join us
in combating this issue so we can say we have improved the drug problem and
have a better town for it."
Ellen Faiella , chaiirman of Saugus Speaks Out and member of the School
Committee, said that the ages of the individuals using drugs and trying
alcohol is "frightening."
"Our focus needs to be on the middle school because that is the age that is
most vulnerable," she said.
In an effort to emphasize the problem, Dr. Joseph DiPetro from the Norht
Shore Medical Center and also a member of Saugus Speaks Out, offered his
experience working with addicts. DiPetro said the problem has emerged over
time, to the point where younger children are now being exposed to drugs
and alcohol and are tempted to try them.
"Doing drugs and drinking alcohol becomes a way of socialization and the
youth gets caught up in the culture of it," DiPetro said.
As for treatment, DiPetro said there is a shortage of resources to treat
and long wait lists at treatment centers, some anywhere from two to three
months.
"The problem is falling back on the communities for them to pick up the
ball," DiPetro said.
Warning signs for parents to look for include changes in behavior and
performance, anger and difficulties in relationships. He told parents to
watch for stolen or missing items from their homes. Increase or lack of
sleep, chronic health problems or being run down and an inability to stay
awake in class could all be signs of an addiction, DiPetro said.
"If your child doesn't finish his or her thoughts, tends to wander off
.this is an effect of the substances on the central nervous system," he said.
Realities of drug and alcohol abuse
With an increase in drug and alcohol use amongst youth also comes an
increase in crime around the community. Police Chief James McKay explained
there are three crime groups addicts fall into.
The first group are those who use drugs, which is a crime itself. The
second group is a more elevated group that is more involved in drugs, which
causes risky or deviant behavior and violent episodes.
The third group is elevated to addicts who participate in crimes to support
their habits. These crimes include robbery, breaking and entering and fraud.
"Historically the police departments focus on the enforcement of (the
law)," McKay said. But as part of the community effort, McKay said the
department would be making a commitment to be involved in education
awareness. The department, he said, is currently in the process of putting
together an information Web site.
Det. Jim Donovan is a narcotics officer in the Saugus Police Department.
What he sees on the streets, he said, is more and more teens using heroin
and oxycontins.
Because of the purity of the heroin on the streets these days, the youth
are able to snort it rather than inject it to get high. With the stigma of
injecting something into their bodies being gone, heroin use is on the rise.
In the coming weeks Donovan will speak to students in the seventh and
eighth grade classes at Belmonte. He plans on being honest with the
students and showing them what the drugs look like, how they make you feel
and the down side of using drugs.
But the most important people in the children's lives, McKay said, are the
parents themselves. Parents can keep their children from using drugs by
being good role models, setting limits for their children and getting
involved in their children's activities.
Donovan said it's been his experience that students even at the high school
level are looking for some involvement from their parents in their lives.
"The kids are saying they don't want their parents to pick them up and drop
them off for games but they'd like to see their parents cheering them on
from the sidelines," Donovan said.
In an attempt to reach the students at the most impressionable age, a
program has been put together at the middle school to address drugs and
alcohol.
Youth and Recreation Director Greg Nikolas said he has been working in
conjunction with two science teachers at the middle school on a wellness
module. Nikolas goes into the classroom once a week (six classes) and talks
candidly with the students. What he's found, he said, is disturbing.
"We're giving the students a chance to talk about this issue in a safe
environment," he said. "And we're helping them to make the right choices."
Hotline numbers
Saugus Police Department Enforcement Unit
781-941-1149
Al-Anon Family Groups
508-366-0556 or 508-366-4663 (with voicemail)
Alcoholics Anonymous
617-426-9444
CSAP Center for Abuse Prevention
800-327-5050
Narcotics Anonymous
866-624-3578
Parental Stress Hotline
800-632-8188
Suicide Crisis Hotline (Samaritans)
617-247-0220
Informational Web sites
www.freevibe.com
www.newenglandna.org
www.aaboston.org
www.al-anon-alateen.org
www.helpline-online.com
www.niaaa.nih.gov
www.uwmb.org/firstcall.htm
www.ncadi.samhsa.gov
www.dafa.org
www.drugabuse.gov
www.kidsincrisis.org
For the better part of a month and a half town officials have been
cautioning that there is a drug and alcohol abuse problem among young
adults and teenagers in Saugus. But nothing makes it more apparent than
reading the most recent fire log.
On Tuesday, Nov. 9 a call was made to the department to report a
24-year-old female overdosed on drugs. Again on Friday, Nov. 12 a mother
called the department to report her 24-year-old son had taken 54 Adavans.
Items like these are all too common in both the police and fire logs.
In order to help combat this problem, a group of town officials and
professionals on the issue of drug and alcohol abuse held a forum on the
Saugus cable access channel last Thursday. The forum, a call-in program,
addressed everything from warning signs of an addiction to hotline numbers
that can be used to receive help to recent new programming aimed to prevent
this problem from continuing in the middle school.
During the forum, School Superintendent Dr. Keith Manville told viewers
that the group of officials and professionals weren't there to do anything
more than help get information out to residents.
The impetus of the forum and revitalization of the Saugus Speaks Out
Committee was a survey taken by both middle and high school students that
indicated there is a serious drug and alcohol abuse problem among these
individuals.
"We believe this is more than a school problem. This is a town problem,"
Manville said.
As he has mentioned before, Manville said a red flag for him was that
results showed 20 percent of eighth graders at Belmonte Middle School said
they went home to an empty house and drank alone.
"This is a community problem. Our goal is not to place blame or beg, it's
merely to dispense information," Manville said. "We invite you to join us
in combating this issue so we can say we have improved the drug problem and
have a better town for it."
Ellen Faiella , chaiirman of Saugus Speaks Out and member of the School
Committee, said that the ages of the individuals using drugs and trying
alcohol is "frightening."
"Our focus needs to be on the middle school because that is the age that is
most vulnerable," she said.
In an effort to emphasize the problem, Dr. Joseph DiPetro from the Norht
Shore Medical Center and also a member of Saugus Speaks Out, offered his
experience working with addicts. DiPetro said the problem has emerged over
time, to the point where younger children are now being exposed to drugs
and alcohol and are tempted to try them.
"Doing drugs and drinking alcohol becomes a way of socialization and the
youth gets caught up in the culture of it," DiPetro said.
As for treatment, DiPetro said there is a shortage of resources to treat
and long wait lists at treatment centers, some anywhere from two to three
months.
"The problem is falling back on the communities for them to pick up the
ball," DiPetro said.
Warning signs for parents to look for include changes in behavior and
performance, anger and difficulties in relationships. He told parents to
watch for stolen or missing items from their homes. Increase or lack of
sleep, chronic health problems or being run down and an inability to stay
awake in class could all be signs of an addiction, DiPetro said.
"If your child doesn't finish his or her thoughts, tends to wander off
.this is an effect of the substances on the central nervous system," he said.
Realities of drug and alcohol abuse
With an increase in drug and alcohol use amongst youth also comes an
increase in crime around the community. Police Chief James McKay explained
there are three crime groups addicts fall into.
The first group are those who use drugs, which is a crime itself. The
second group is a more elevated group that is more involved in drugs, which
causes risky or deviant behavior and violent episodes.
The third group is elevated to addicts who participate in crimes to support
their habits. These crimes include robbery, breaking and entering and fraud.
"Historically the police departments focus on the enforcement of (the
law)," McKay said. But as part of the community effort, McKay said the
department would be making a commitment to be involved in education
awareness. The department, he said, is currently in the process of putting
together an information Web site.
Det. Jim Donovan is a narcotics officer in the Saugus Police Department.
What he sees on the streets, he said, is more and more teens using heroin
and oxycontins.
Because of the purity of the heroin on the streets these days, the youth
are able to snort it rather than inject it to get high. With the stigma of
injecting something into their bodies being gone, heroin use is on the rise.
In the coming weeks Donovan will speak to students in the seventh and
eighth grade classes at Belmonte. He plans on being honest with the
students and showing them what the drugs look like, how they make you feel
and the down side of using drugs.
But the most important people in the children's lives, McKay said, are the
parents themselves. Parents can keep their children from using drugs by
being good role models, setting limits for their children and getting
involved in their children's activities.
Donovan said it's been his experience that students even at the high school
level are looking for some involvement from their parents in their lives.
"The kids are saying they don't want their parents to pick them up and drop
them off for games but they'd like to see their parents cheering them on
from the sidelines," Donovan said.
In an attempt to reach the students at the most impressionable age, a
program has been put together at the middle school to address drugs and
alcohol.
Youth and Recreation Director Greg Nikolas said he has been working in
conjunction with two science teachers at the middle school on a wellness
module. Nikolas goes into the classroom once a week (six classes) and talks
candidly with the students. What he's found, he said, is disturbing.
"We're giving the students a chance to talk about this issue in a safe
environment," he said. "And we're helping them to make the right choices."
Hotline numbers
Saugus Police Department Enforcement Unit
781-941-1149
Al-Anon Family Groups
508-366-0556 or 508-366-4663 (with voicemail)
Alcoholics Anonymous
617-426-9444
CSAP Center for Abuse Prevention
800-327-5050
Narcotics Anonymous
866-624-3578
Parental Stress Hotline
800-632-8188
Suicide Crisis Hotline (Samaritans)
617-247-0220
Informational Web sites
www.freevibe.com
www.newenglandna.org
www.aaboston.org
www.al-anon-alateen.org
www.helpline-online.com
www.niaaa.nih.gov
www.uwmb.org/firstcall.htm
www.ncadi.samhsa.gov
www.dafa.org
www.drugabuse.gov
www.kidsincrisis.org
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