Pubdate: Wed, 12 Jan 2005 Source: Swampscott Reporter (Marblehead, MA) Copyright: 2005 Swampscott Reporter Contact: http://www2.townonline.com/swampscott/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3582 Author: Frank Carini STILL ATTACKING SMACK They've been at it for over a year, and guess what: You can still buy heroin in Essex County. But in their continuing battle to curb rising heroin and opiate use on the North Shore, Essex County officials will hold a conference next month to discuss the next steps in smacking down this still-growing problem. Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett, Essex County Sheriff Frank Cousins Jr. and the Anti-Crime Council will host a summit to target the deadly epidemic of heroin and opiate abuse from 8 a.m. to noon Thursday, Jan. 13, at Merrimack College in North Andover. The conference, entitled "The Heroin/Opiate Epidemic," is intended for law enforcement, medical professionals, educators, civic leaders, clergy, parents, pharmacists, business people, attorneys and community leaders. "The goal of this summit is to heighten awareness of what is truly a horrendous problem throughout the Northeastern United States," says Blodgett. "Law-enforcement efforts are vitally important, but it is clear that education is the best way to combat this terrible public-safety issue. It is through education that we will stem the demand for these lethal drugs." Cousins says everyone in the region should come together to defeat this deadly scourge. "Everyone can play a role in solving this epidemic," he says. "And that's the way it should be and has to be. Too many young kids are becoming involved with these substances and committing a variety of crimes to finance their habits. Those crimes are felt by all of us. If we collaboratively develop and execute solutions to this issue, the problem will diminish." Essex County became one of 13 New England counties designated as High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas by the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP) five years ago. Heroin treatment admissions as well as hospital emergency department overdoses and deaths continue to undergo an unprecedented rise in these counties. Across New England, heroin is claiming more lives than homicide in some metropolitan areas during the past six years. And according to a report issued by the state Department of Public Health, there was a 230 percent increase from 1996 to 2001 in the number of 15- to 24-year-olds receiving hospital treatment because of heroin or narcotic addiction. In 2003 alone, the Essex County Drug Task Force made 300 heroin-related busts, and seized more than 21,000 single-dose bags of heroin and 2,172 grams of pure heroin, enough for more than 65,000 additional single-dose bags. Heroin-related statistics for this year will not be available until next month, according to Blodgett. And the lethal strain of heroin being sold on the streets of Essex County took at least two-dozen lives in 2003, notes Blodgett. "Heroin is cheaper than a six-pack of beer, and despite law enforcement's best efforts, easily obtainable," says Blodgett. "And now that it can be snorted instead of injected with a needle, there is a sense among users that it is more acceptable, and will be neither deadly nor addictive. They couldn't be more wrong." The rate of heroin emergency room mentions per 100,000 of population was 122 in 2001 for Essex, Middlesex, Norfolk, Plymouth and Suffolk counties, according to the National Drug Intelligence Center. The national rate was 37. Blodgett has flogged the issue since his first day on the job two years ago, and he refuses to give up on the fight. He says the only way to raise the level of awareness and choke off the supply is through education. "The way I look at it, we just have to do more to get the word out," he says. "The only way we're going to beat this problem is prevention. We have to teach people that only three things can happen: You fight addiction for the rest of your life; you go to jail; or you die." The keynote speaker for the Jan. 13 summit will be Clay Yeager, director of community partnerships for Purdue Pharma, a pharmaceutical company that produces Oxycontin. He is the former director of Pennsylvania's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, and was the executive director of former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge's Community Partnership for Safe Children. In addition to Blodgett and Cousins, conference speakers will include George Festa, director of High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area-New England; Dr. Stephen Valle, president of ADCARE Criminal Justice Services Inc.; Maureen Walsh, chairwoman of the Massachusetts Parole Board; and officer Larry Wentzell, student resource officer for the Lynn Police Department. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth