Pubdate: Thu, 02 Mar 2006
Source: Herald News, The (Fall River, MA)
Copyright: 2006 The Herald News
Contact:  http://www.heraldnews.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3604
Author: Will  Richmond, Herald News Staff Reporter
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/pot.htm (Cannabis)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/coke.htm (Cocaine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/meth.htm (Methamphetamine)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/oxycontin.htm (Oxycontin/Oxycodone)

DURFEE PARENTS GET CRASH COURSE IN NARCOTICS ID

FALL RIVER -- While the goal is usually to keep drugs out of schools, 
that wasn't the case Wednesday night at B.M.C. Durfee High School. 
Filling out a table in the middle of the Tradewinds Restaurant sat an 
array of narcotics from crack cocaine to heroin to marijuana, but in 
this case no one was going to get  in trouble.

Instead the drugs were there, along with Detective Andrew Crook of 
the police Vice and Intelligence Unit, to give parents a crash course 
on what they look like and the types of paraphernalia that typically 
accompany those narcotics.

Crook started out the discussion holding up a small bag of  heroin. 
He told the nearly two dozen parents about how it's packaged and the 
costs associated with the drugs. Crook described the drug is "the 
most dangerous  and tied as the most prominent drug" in Fall River.

Typically packaged  with either a stamp or in color bags so users can 
identify the quality of the  drug, Crook explained an individual bag 
of .03 grams is usually $10 with  discounts coming to users who 
purchase in bulk.

"If you ever see a single  bag in your house it would be a major 
concern, because no one uses heroin  recreationally," Crook warned the parents.

He also shared tips on how the  drugs is used, whether snorted or 
injected, and mentioned household products  such as spoons or soda 
cans that can be used to cook heroin.

The problem  of heroin addiction, he added, is one affecting many 
walks of life.

"With  heroin use, today you're a banker, an accountant, a doctor, 
but tomorrow you're  chasing heroin on the street to rob and steal," 
Crook said. "Therefore, that  family is now in distress and they're 
bringing your family into distress because  they're robbing you or 
robbing grandmother."

Crook next showed parents a  bag of crack cocaine, saying the 
brown-colored drug is often packaged in the  torn-off corners of 
plastic sandwich bags.

He told parents to look out  for the presence of the bags and/or 2- 
to 3-inch straws that would be used to  ingest the drug.

Crook also brought along a few bags of marijuana, also  stored in the 
corners of plastic bags.

"We come across marijuana quite  frequently, but it's not quite as 
major a concern as heroin," Crook  said.

Crook's lesson also touched on drugs such as ecstasy, steroids, 
Oxycontin and methamphetamines, saying while their use is not as 
prevalent as  the other drugs, they are being used in the city.

"Everything shown here  today we didn't get in New York City or 
somewhere else," Crook said. "We got  them right here in Fall River."

While those drugs have a presence in the  city, Crook said, a strong 
relationship exists between the police department's  gang unit and 
the Durfee school resource officers to share information about  arrests.

"The city and chief of police (John M. Souza) are very proactive 
about this," Crook said.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman