Pubdate: Thu, 16 Feb 2006
Source: Wakefield Observer (MA)
Copyright: 2005 Community Newspaper Company
Contact:  http://www2.townonline.com/wakefield/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3791
Author: Lisa  Guerriero
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?135 (Drug  Education)

THIS IS YOUR CHILD ON DRUGS

People have asked Chief Rick Smith why the department is holding a 
series  of drug recognition classes, and why it is aimed at adults. 
The answer, to  Smith, was clear. Last year, police in nearby Essex 
County seized 56 kilos of  cocaine and 101 tablets of the 
often-abused narcotic painkiller OxyContin.

The national  number of OxyContin abusers (not prescribed the drug) 
jumped from 11.8 million  in 2002 to 13.7 million in2003.

"That's a big  jump in one year ... Drug abuse not only ruins the 
life of the user, it ruins  the lives of the family, friends and the 
victims who get involved with the  users," Smith told about 50 
parents, teachers and drug counselors gathered in  the public safety 
building on Feb 9. The six-session  course is designed to educate 
adults to recognize illegal drugs and the signs of drug use and 
abuse. Later courses will address prescription and over-the-counter 
drugs, club drugs like Ecstasy, drug-related sexual assaults and 
coalition  building.

Round one was an  overview of the way young people use drugs, and 
particularly plant-based drugs  like heroin and cocaine and how they 
affect Massachusetts.

Particularly in  Middlesex and Essex counties, "Massachusetts is one 
area where Oxys (OxyContin)  are king," said Smith, noting that young 
people commonly abuse the drug, which  is a synthetic opiate that 
often leads to heroin use. Smith introduced  the lead speaker for the 
next few sessions, Marilyn Belmonte, a member of a  Burlington 
anti-drug coalition who specializes in community awareness and gives 
training seminars across the country. Kids on E - and plenty more 
Belmonte stood  before a table filled with pacifiers, lollipops and 
over-the-counter cold  medicine.

These items, she  said, can be used as drugs or paraphernalia, but 
most parents have "no clue"  about them.

"These kids - our  kids - rely on us not to have a clue, so they can 
use drugs," she said.

Take, for  example, the photo she showed the group of two children in 
"rave" style  clothing. One girl wore a homemade necklace that said 
"one." Look closer,  Belmonte instructed. The "o" and "n" are small, 
and the "e" is big - it really  says "on E," slang for the club drug 
ecstasy. Teens sometimes wear the coded  word on clothes and 
accessories, partly for show. Partly, said Belmonte, they do  it so 
people know what drug they're using, in case they pass out or 
overdose -  that way, their friends know what to tell the EMTs. It's 
one of the many bits of  misinformation and bad advice teens get from 
pro-drug Web sites, Belmonte said.

"Our kids get a  lot of bad information on the Internet," she said. 
One lesson is  gateway drugs: Most kids start with cigarettes, a drug 
that's illegal for them,  according to Belmonte. A drug dealer is 
logically more likely to approach a  group of smokers than 
non-smokers, she said, and "many people believe if you can  stop 
that, you stop all drug use (in a particular child)."

The Biggest Drug In Massachusetts And What's Next

Drug use follows  trends, Belmonte said. In Massachusetts, for a 
reason no one is sure of, abusing OxyContin pills is a huge problem. 
The painkiller is highly addictive and much  more potent than 
Percocet or Vicodin, and it can saddle teens with to a  hard-to-kick 
habit, painful cravings during withdrawal and even overdose.

Young people  often crush them up and sniff them to get higher 
quicker, which intensifies the  problem. When teens run out of cash 
for the costly pills, they turn to crime or  the cheaper substitute - 
the similar narcotic, heroin. Both OxyContin  and heroin stimulate 
the "happy" chemicals in one's brain. A detox counselor who  attended 
the session said her Oxy patients describe it as "the absolute best 
feeling in the world."

Belmonte said  "the brain does not know the difference" between 
plant-based opiates like heroin  and the synthetic versions like 
OxyContin. Heroin is more  than 10 times as pure as it was in 1980, 
according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement  Agency, and at only a few 
dollars per hit, it's even cheaper than in the '80s.  That means 
today's heroin can be sniffed to get the user high - and some teens 
who would never consider using a needle have gotten into the drug by snorting.

Abuse of the club  drug crystal methamphetamine is a near-epidemic in 
other parts of the country,  and is now "marching its way" to New 
England, Belmonte said. The drug is cooked  from over-the-counter 
products, smells foul, and comes in powdery or sticky form  depending 
on the recipe.

Crystal meth and  ecstasy will be addressed in future sessions of the 
drug class.

Reading The Signs

Every drug has different telltale signs, Belmonte said. When it comes 
to narcotics like  OxyContin and heroin, a user's pupils shrink to 
pinpoints - usually about 2.9  millimeters - and they don't respond 
to light. A person using  heroin or Oxy will often have droopy 
eyelids, and appear to be "nodding off."  Their muscles are relaxed, 
their skin is cool and clammy and they scratch  because their arms 
and faces are often itchy. Many heroin users wear long  sleeves even 
in warmer weather to hide the track marks from needles. Heroin can be 
china-white, brown or "Mexican black tar," which is growing in popularity.

In contrast,  users of cocaine, crystal methamphetamine and ecstasy 
usually have dilated  pupils. All three are strong stimulants - 
cocaine is a whitish powder made from  coca leaves and its 
crystallized counterpart, crack, comes in hard, whitish  chunks.

Irritated  nostrils, sniffling and bloody noses can be byproducts of 
coke use, as can be  loss of appetite, poor hygiene, paranoia, 
violence and reduced sleep or odd  sleeping habits.

Crack is a more  potent and highly addictive cooked version of coke. 
Crack requires different  pipes than marijuana, often metal or even 
constructed out of light bulbs. Crack  users often have blisters on 
their fingers from burning the substance, and  display many of the 
habits of coke users.

"This is a  violent group," Belmonte said of coke and crack abusers.

Both drugs are often sold tucked into the corner of a small baggie or 
in a balloon.

The good news,  according to surveys conducted in Massachusetts, is 
that children say their parents are the number-one reason for not using drugs.

"They're giving  us the answer," said Belmonte.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman