Heroin's Tragic Toll, Part 2 of 4

RESURGENCE OF DRUG DEVASTATES FAMILIES

Two Valley families have found that heroin has the ability to slip under
the white picket fences of suburbia and invade the bloodstreams of their
children.

The drug, which has been around for more than a half a century in one form
or another, is making a resurgence in the Valley. Its presence has rocked
the lives of its users and their loved ones.

For Joe's family, daily tasks most of us take for granted, such as eating
and sleeping, are overshadowed by worrying about whether or not their
children will survive another day, said parents Mary and Al and sister Jane.

Now the Harrison family's concerns have turned from worrying about their
son and brother Joe's survival on the streets, to his survival in the
Allegheny County Jail.

The addict's family asked that their real names not be used because they
fear for their safety. Recently, someone broke into their house and they
believe it was possibly by someone owed money by their addict son.

Joe is awaiting trial on drug related charges and has been in prison for
about four months.

Joe's addiction has given his older sister, who is his only sibling, panic
attacks that have forced her to drop out of college.

The family said tensions in the home have also reached new levels. "It has
torn up the family; there's a lot of tension and fighting. There are days
when my husband and I don't speak with one another," Mary said.

Jail is not a new experience for Joe, 19. This is the fourth time he's been
behind bars in Pittsburgh. Joe, who started using heroin in high school,
also has been in and out of at least eight rehabilitation facilities since
his family found out about his addiction last February.

Another parent, Sally, who also is dealing with a child addicted to heroin,
said she learned about her daughter's habit the same day.

Sally isn't sure if her daughter still is using heroin. "Every day, I wake
up, and I pray that she lives," Sally said.

The addiction came as a shock to both families.

"I know kids drink underage, and I know they get high, and in my realm of
thinking, that's as far as it ever went," said Mary, Joe's mother.

Mary said she found out about Joe's problem after receiving a call from
Sally. At the time Sally was a stranger. Their only bond was the drug
eating away at their children.

Mary and Sally now support each other.

Sally said she could tell there was something wrong with her daughter, but
she never expected it to be a drug problem.

The daughter also visited several rehab centers, also to no avail, Sally said.

When Sally learned of her daughter's addiction, she asked her daughter to
give her the names of the people with whom she was using heroin.

After getting the names, she called all of their parents, including Mary.

Sally said some parents listened to her while others refused to accept
their children's addictions.

When she got the call, Mary decided to confront her son.

Mary said Joe didn't deny his addiction, and the family diligently tried to
find somewhere for Joe to get help.

Joe's mother didn't realize it would be such a daunting task. Mary quickly
found that most rehabilitation centers wouldn't take her son because he was
younger than 18. Joe was 17 at the time.

"I just called all night long, all the places I could possibly think of,"
she said. "I could not believe how hard it was to get the help my son needed."

A friend intervened, and the family was finally able to get Joe into a
five-day rehabilitation program at Greenbriar Treatment Center in New
Kensington.

But they would soon find that five days wasn't enough for Joe.

At the center the family was told news they didn't want to hear. Center
officials told them that less than 10 percent of addicts quit using after a
five-day stint in rehab.

"I've talked to a lot of counselors, therapists, and recovering addicts and
almost all of them say the same thing," Al said. "Jail, institutions and
death are the only three things that will stop a heroin addict."

The family soon found that Joe would be a member of the more than 90
percent of people for whom an initial stint in rehab doesn't help.

"If they're not in rehab because they want to be, it's not going to do a
damn thing," Mary said.

Sally and Mary said they've made it their lives' mission not to let their
children become another statistic of the drug that's taken so many young lives.

"It's constant. We never quit. That's why these kids are alive," Mary said.
"It's going to kill me or kill him because I'm not going to stop."

The women said there have been many nights when they would spend their time
looking for their children after finding the car missing when the children
were supposed to be in bed. Both also said they've spent days on the phone
trying to track their children.

The two woman said their children's addictions have made them well- known
by police across the Valley.

All of it has taken its toll on the women.

Mary has been in counseling and on several types of medication since she
found out about Joe's addiction. She held out the handful of various colors
and sizes of pills she takes every day.

Sally sees a therapist.

Al and Mary said, if they had it do do over again, they wouldn't have done
anything to help Joe out of his legal problems.

"Don't allow them to choose their consequences and don't do anything to
lessen the consequences," Al said.

"The only thing that will stop you is the consequences, in other words,
hitting rock bottom," Al said.

The problem he sees is that young addicts, such as Joe, have little to
lose. Most don't have a permanent job, children or a great deal of
responsibility, he said.

The family said their son isn't a bad kid, he's just made poor decisions.

"I think we all would like to trust our children and believe we did a good
job raising them and they will make good choices," Al said. "Given what
I've been through, I wouldn't hesitate to do a drug test."

Jane, Joe's sister, said over the years she and Joe have become close. But
she can't bare to visit him in jail and hasn't seen him since he was
incarcerated almost five months ago.

"He told me everything except this," she said.

She doesn't believe people who say heroin addiction is a disease like cancer.

"I don't see it that way. You don't choose to get cancer," Jane said. "My
brother choose to do heroin, and it makes me very mad."

Mary said she hopes and prays that when Joe gets out of jail he'll be able
to put heroin behind him. But she said her optimism has been crushed before.

Part 3: http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v02/n1258/a01.html