Pubdate: Sun, 11 Feb 2007
Source: Times, The  (Munster IN)
Copyright: 2007 The Munster Times
Contact:  http://www.nwitimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/832
Author: Susan Brown
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?136 (Methadone)

FAMILY FEARS MISSING GIRL LOST TO HEROIN

Hammond: Pain Medication Precursor To Heroin Addiction, They Say

HAMMOND -- When Dawn Allen went missing for two weeks in November, 
her mother tried not giving into her fears, firmly convinced the 
22-year-old would return home for the holidays.

Her mother, Deborah Allen of Cedar Lake, turned out to be right.

But  two days after Christmas,  Dawn Allen left her Hammond home 
again, this time not returning, not even for her little boy's third 
birthday  Jan. 12.

This time, her mother is frantic and desperate to find the girl, who 
she says in a matter of months has become addicted to heroin.

"I've called all the hospitals. I've called all the jails," Deborah Allen said.

"That's not my daughter," she said of the changes in the girl. 
"That's the addiction I'm trying to save her from. I want her to know 
we're there ... somebody to call and tell me she's OK."

Deborah Allen estimates her daughter's heroin  use at between six to 
nine months.

According to Allen and her daughter's long-term boyfriend, who asked 
to be identified only as Jason, the springboard  to heroin was a 
severe addiction to  the prescription pain medication, Vicodin, first 
administered following  a Cesarean section to deliver  the couple's son.

They said she continued to obtain Vicodin through a Purdue University 
Calumet classmate when doctors would no longer prescribe the 
medication. The same classmate is reported to have more recently 
introduced her to heroin.

Joanna Zoltay, public information officer for the U.S. Drug 
Enforcement Administration in Chicago, said given the addictive 
nature of Vicodin and heroin, it's possible to see the connection.

"Because of the morphine properties in both, obviously you can get 
the reaction you're looking for from one or the other," she said. 
"It's not that great of jump to go from illegally obtained Vicodin to 
illegally obtained heroin."

But for Dawn Allen's boyfriend, learning of the step-up to heroin 
came as a shock.

"I didn't know, but I worked a lot, sometimes 12, 14 hours a day," he said.

The couple has been together for six years.

He described the girl as a caring, articulate  young woman who was so 
good at her telemarketing job she won a trip to Hawaii.

"She helped me to be a better person," he said. "She helped me get 
the job I have right now. We stayed together. We helped each other."

He was helping to send her to college, part of a plan in which they 
would help each other obtain college degrees, he said.

It hasn't turned out that way.

"I can't understand what's so appealing about putting a needle in 
your arm," he said. "I couldn't believe it  when I first saw it. I 
thought I was in a movie."

When he learned of the heroin use, Jason said he took her to a 
methadone clinic in Gary.

"I did that for  two months," he said.

Besides it draining their bank account, that was all of the clinic he 
said he  could stand.

"It's the saddest thing you'll ever see in your life, mine, anyway." 
he said. "I gave her the keys to my car to go."

Instead, she got arrested.

"They took her to jail and took my car," he said.

Hammond Police Department spokesman Michael Jorden confirmed an 
arrest for drunken driving during which an empty needle was 
discovered in the car. She has been charged only with a DUI but is 
known to be a heroin addict, he said.

During her first disappearance in November, the family said they 
contacted police but were told there wasn't much the police could do 
because the girl is an adult.

The family insists a missing person's report was filed in November, 
but only one, filed on Feb. 1, is on record, according to Jorden.

Jorden said the department doesn't refuse to accept missing person's reports.

If a missing adult is located and not in harm's way, police will 
ascertain if the person has left of his free will and assist them 
only if they request it, Jorden said.

"We can't force her to stay in contact with her family or to not 
associate with certain people," Jorden said of the Allen case.

But as it has done in other cases, Jorden said police will assist 
Allen's family with posting fliers in public buildings and, if 
located, she will be asked to contact her mother.

[Sidebar]

Extras

Hydrocodone, a component of Vicodin, is a semi-synthetic narcotics, 
as is heroin. They are derived from morphine or codeine.

Hydrocodone is structurally related to codeine, but more closely 
related to morphine in its pharmacological profile. It is most 
frequently prescribed in combination with acetaminophen as in 
Vicodin, but is also marketed in prescriptive products with aspirin.

Hydrocodone products are associated with significant drug abuse and 
ranked sixth among all controlled substances in the 2002 Drug Abuse 
Warning Network (DAWN) emergency department data..

Source: U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman