Pubdate: Thu, 10 Mar 2005
Source: Record Herald, The (Waynesboro, PA)
Copyright: 2004 The Waynesboro Record Herald
Contact:  http://www.therecordherald.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3444
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Author: Jennifer Fitch

POWERFUL PRESENTATION HIGHLIGHTS DRUG DANGERS

Illicit and illegal drugs take away a lot of things.

They take away a user's perception.

They take away a user's friends.

They can even take away a user's life.

The thing they don't take away - the user's family. It's the family that's
left standing at the tombstone.

The message of the Heads-up Program is solemn and its multimedia
presentation grim, but it is being presented to area schools and parents to
increase awareness and aid in the fight against drug use.

"Prevention is education. The more we know, the further we can get,"
according to Laura Rowland, a prevention specialist for the Waynesboro Area
School District and community.

She gave opening remarks at the Heads-up Program presentation Monday to
nearly 30 parents and educators in the Waynesboro Area Middle School
auditorium.

Waynesboro's high-schoolers heard the same two-hour presentation earlier
Monday, and the middle school students heard it Tuesday. Greencastle-Antrim
High School students also heard the presentation Tuesday.

Later this year, the program will be presented at schools in Fannett-Metal
and Mercersburg.

The program

The Heads-up Program has been presented in Pennsylvania, New Jersey,
Delaware and Massachusetts by the Philadelphia Police Department's Narcotics
Bureau. The program will mark its fourth anniversary on April 10.

In 2004, the program was presented to nearly 75,000 people at 575 locations.

The name Heads-up started as an acronym for Heroin Education and Dangerous
Substance Understanding Program, but most students now simply refer to it as
Heads-up.

The Heads-up Program is revised every September - to include new drugs and
the faces of the deceased, said officer Virginia Pagano, who spoke to
parents Monday night.

She said the program is offered free to school districts and groups. To
schedule a presentation, call (215) 685-1120.

The content

Pagano gave an extensive look into the world of drug addiction, covering the
warning signs, varieties of drugs, incarceration, effects on the body,
deaths of young people and the effects on family and friends.

She repeatedly encouraged parents to search their children's rooms.

"I beg you to do this," she said, calling the feeling of suspicion in a
parent's stomach "instinct."

If children are doing drugs, they're bringing them into the house, she said.

She also said she has heard there is a gang forming in the Waynesboro area.

"You need to address it quickly," she advised.

Young people find comfort and strength in gangs. However, she cited one
13-year-old gang member who killed because of the color of the shirt he
wore.

It was his family that had to bury him.

She emphasized later in her presentation that it also is the family who's
left when a young person dies of an overdose. Friends and drug dealers are
no longer around, but the family must identify the body in a morgue.

The Heads-up Program highlights many stories in which friends abandoned
their friends when they overdosed.

Pagano said she constantly tells children to be careful who their friends
are. Their "friends" will be the ones who get them started on drugs and will
be the first to leave in a time of need.

A quick change in friends is one of the primary signs of a problem, she told
parents.

"Parents are making mistakes too," Pagano said. She told stories of parents
who brought drugs into their homes and then were victims of drug-related
crime.

People who are involved with illicit or illegal drugs are more likely to be
robbed because they are known to be carrying drugs and money.

One Web site she encouraged parents and students to visit is:

www.dying2gethigh.com.

The drugs

- - Alcohol

In one Heads-up presentation, an eighth-grader had to be removed from the
morning assembly. She had consumed an entire six-pack of beer before school.

Alcohol affects every part of the body because it is carried through the
bloodstream.

The brains of 12-to-16-year-olds are still developing. They are 50 percent
more likely to become alcohol dependent for their lifetime.

Alcohol is the second leading killer of young people.

- - Crack cocaine and cocaine

Crack cocaine is instantly addictive. It is sold for $5 to $10 in a plastic
bag and lit in a glass pipe.

Cocaine is the drug that sends the most people to hospital emergency rooms.
It speeds up the heart drastically.

Pagano told the story of Len Bias, who died when he was 22. Bias had just
signed with the Boston Celtics and, while out to celebrate with friends,
they offered him his first line of cocaine.

"His heart exploded. This kid ran up and down basketball courts how many
times, and his heart exploded," Bias said.

- - Ecstasy

"Most kids think it's one of the safest things out there. It's one of the
deadliest," said Pagano.

Ecstasy pills release serotonin in the brain and make a person feel happy.

They are stamped with various recognizable logos like the Playboy bunny,
McDonald's arches and car logos. Pagano showed 99 varieties in her
presentation.

A single pill can cost between $5 and $30.

The major problem with Ecstasy is that not all the pills are actually
Ecstasy. For example, drug dealers will stamp logos on aspirin.

People will take three pills and think they are fine to do so again.
However, the next time they take the pills, they might actually be Ecstasy,
and three pills could be deadly.

Ecstasy creates a chemical imbalance in the brain that does not correct
itself. Users also become extremely depressed when they're not on Ecstasy.

Signs of Ecstasy use are temperatures between 102 and 104 degrees. Also, a
user's body swells because it retains water.

- - GHB

GHB is commonly known as "the date rape drug."

You cannot see, smell or taste GHB when it is added to a liquid. The only
exception is water because it creates a film on the water's surface.

GHB can knock a person out for three to 15 hours.

It is most widely used on college campuses. There also have been bartenders
arrested for using it to drug customers and steal money.

- - Heroin

Heroin is sold in small bags that are folded over. There are names and logos
stamped on the bags.

Each bag sells for about $10.

Pagano emphasized that heroin can kill someone in eight seconds.

Users hide track marks by injecting between their fingers, between their
toes or into tattoos.

- - Inhalant abuse

Forty-four percent of sixth-graders report inhalant abuse.

People addicted to inhalants will get high off Whiteout, spray deodorant and
paint. They often do so by breathing into bags in a process called
"huffing."

Death by inhalant abuse is called Sudden Sniffing Death.

- - LSD or acid

Users put acid on small pieces of paper or candy and then let them dissolve
on their tongues.

Acid comes in a variety of colors, including blue, green and yellow.

While acid is not addictive, but it becomes deadly when a user hallucinates
and causes harm to himself or others.

- - Marijuana

Marijuana, also known as weed or hydro, is the most prevalent drug and is
sending the highest number of young people to treatment centers.

It is addictive and causes damage to the brain.

Marijuana is inserted in hollowed-out cigars to make "blunts." It also can
be smoked using rolling papers, which are traditionally sold to the public
to roll cigarettes.

"I don't know anyone who rolls their own cigarettes," Pagano said. "They're
rolling joints, and they always have been."

- - Methamphetamine

"This is the newest thing to hit our area," said Pagano.

Crystal meth is 90 percent pure methamphetamine. It can keep a user awake
for days.

Methamphetamines cause severe hallucinations.

Pagano said police officers have found recipes for methamphetamine on
computers. The recipes use a common cold medicine ingredient, so some
retailers are limiting the number of packages an individual can buy.

- - PCP or angel dust

PCP also is known as "wet" or "wet sticks." It is embalming fluid.

PCP causes permanent, irreversible brain damage and psychosis.

It can be sprayed or dumped on marijuana.

Pagano said it is oily, yellow and "stinks to high heaven."

People who have taken PCP won't feel someone else hit them because PCP
deadens pain receptors.

Pennsylvania's supply of PCP comes from New York City.

- - Prescription drugs

Pagano encouraged parents to count and hide prescription pills. The use of
prescription drugs is on the rise because they are readily available.

"This is sweeping, and I have to say this - sweeping Pennsylvania," she
said.

One of the most popular prescription drugs is OxyContin, a powerful pain
killer.

OxyContin is designed to release in the stomach over a period of 12 to 15
hours.

One OxyContin pill can cost up to $80 on the street. If users cannot afford
OxyContin, they will often turn to heroin for the same effects.
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MAP posted-by: Josh