Pubdate: Wed, 20 Dec 2006
Source: Enterprise, The (MA)
Copyright: 2006 The Enterprise
Contact:  http://enterprise.southofboston.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3231
Author: Maureen Boyle, Enterprise, staff writer

HEROIN DEATHS MOUNTING

ABINGTON -- After an 18-year-old girl was found dead in  her home of
an apparent heroin overdose last weekend,  Police Chief David Majenski
went to the house to  comfort her family.

It was, he said, a heart-breaking visit.

He said it should also be a wake-up call to everyone in  Abington and
surrounding communities.

"You can go to any community, it is not just in  Abington, and heroin
can be found among this age  group," Majenski said. "We can no longer
put our head  in the sand and say it's not around."

The death of the Abington teenager -- whose name was  not released --
was the latest apparent overdose in the  region as officials try to
find ways to address the  problem before more lives are lost.

The Southeast Center for Healthy Communities will meet  Thursday from
3 to 5 p.m. at the Mulligan Center of  Health Care, 42 West Chestnut
St., Brockton, with  representatives from area district attorneys'
offices,  police and parents to talk about the problem.

The local support group for parents, Learn to Cope
(www.learn2cope.org), doubled in size in the past two  years. A vigil
to remember the dead was held at an  Abington church earlier this
month to spotlight the  issue. And some communities have hosted forums
to talk  about heroin addiction.

"It is something we have to address," said Ed Jacoubs,  who
coordinates prevention programs at the Plymouth  County district
attorney's office.

Tracy DeSovich, director of the Southeast Center for  Healthy
Communities, said the meeting Thursday -- in  conjunction with the
state Department of Public Health  -- is aimed at looking at who is
affected and what can  be done to stop it.

"Right now, with some of the overdoses, it looks like  it involves
those almost right out of school -- right  in that wedge where it is
harder to reach them,"  DeSovich said. "We need to get a sense of who
are the  youth that are using ...We really believe that to make  a
change, you have to have all the people in the room  together."

Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy J. Cruz said  people
throughout the area are discovering that  addiction can touch their
lives -- or of those they  know.

"It can happen anywhere," he said.

Joanne Peterson, founder of Learn to Cope, said the  problem in the
area appears to be worsening. There have  been nine deaths in eight
weeks in the region, she  said.

"We're starting to wonder if the National Guard has to  come out and
start patrolling the streets to stop the  drugs. People need to get
angry," Peterson said.

Majenski said the death this past weekend appeared to  be an overdose,
but authorities are awaiting the  results of toxicology tests to
confirm that.

He would not release the name of the victim, where in  town she lived
or other circumstances in the case.

However, Majenski said two Abington detectives assigned  to the case
are working with state police to try to  learn the source of the
drugs. Majenski said if the  source can be confirmed, charges would be
lodged in the  case.

"Without a doubt, we would prosecute within the  parameters of the
law," he said.

Majenski said heroin is touching a growing number of  households in
the area as teenagers and young adults  experiment with OxyContin, get
addicted and then switch  to the cheaper heroin.

"I can't begin to describe how incredibly powerful this  drug is," he
said. "You can't just tell these kids that  they have to stop, they
have to quit. They can't. We  need to educate them before they start.
We need to get  them help once they do."

Majenski said heroin addiction is reaching into bedroom  communities,
ensnaring youths and young adults who  don't realize how dangerous the
drug is.

"You are seeing young adults, teenagers to those in the  early-to-mid
and late 20s, who are getting hooked into  something they can't seem
to escape from," he said. "It  is really frightening."

Parents are also struggling to find help, he said.

"They are good people and their kids are good kids. The  kids just
made poor decisions," Majenski said. "As in  case after case, you are
seeing parents who are doing  everything right and their child gets
hooked. It is a  terrible tragedy."
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