Pubdate: Sat, 16 Aug 2014
Source: Cincinnati Enquirer (OH)
Copyright: 2014 The Cincinnati Enquirer
Contact: http://drugsense.org/url/aeNtfDqb
Website: http://www.cincinnati.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/86
Author: Sheila McLaughlin

ANTI-HEROIN PLAN: HIGH SCHOOL 'GUARDIANS'

A MILTON Butler County Prosecutor Mike Gmoser thinks he has a plan that
will help save teens from becoming the next wave of heroin addicts.

After talking to dozens of addicts three months ago, Gmoser on Friday
unveiled an initiative he hopes will take hold in the county's public
and private high schools.

In May, Gmoser set up a hotline and put out a call through the media
asking for heroin addicts or recovering addicts to meet with him
confidentially for a chat on what got them started. He said 85 percent
of the cases coming through grand juries were heroin-related and he
wanted to find a way to fix the heroin epidemic which county coroner's
officials said is responsible for 64 deaths so far this year.

Gmoser said many of the addicts he spoke with said they either got
hooked after they were taking opioids for a legitimate injury or fell
into addiction to escape from abuse they suffered as a child.

A common theme from the addicts was that nobody had told them how
deadly heroin was, he said.

"They said nobody explained to us that this would take us, shake us
and kill us," Gmoser told a group of about 25 school officials, state
legislators, and drug-addiction officials who gathered for the
presentation.

That's what Gmoser said he hopes to do using his "bully pulpit" as a
prosecutor.

Gmoser's plan for students will include peer counseling between
students and possibly in-your-face stories from addicts at school
assemblies where he plans to speak. Gmoser said his goal is to offer a
program much like the pre-prom events at schools that attempt to
discourage students from driving drunk.

"The kids teach kids how to avoid alcohol," Gmoser
said.

In the anti-heroin program, students in each grade will be "guardians"
and will be responsible for counseling a student in the next grade
down. Schools will pair up students who will then be required to meet
four times a year to talk about emotional issues, family problems and
pressure to engage in drug use, Gmoser said.

"It is my shot," Gmoser said about his idea to attack the rampant
heroin addiction problem. "The bottom line is (that) education is the
key."

Gmoser said he worked to create the initiative with the Alcohol and
Chemical Abuse Council of Southwest Ohio, which will help devise a
list of tools to help teens cope with social pressures.

Gmoser plans to publish a case study at the end of the school year,
but cautioned that it likely will take years to see the effects of the
program.

The initiative includes providing certificates for every graduating
senior that can be used in their college or job resumes. The
prosecutor's office also will track school affiliations of future drug
offenders to identify schools that may need more attention.

The proposal would have to be adopted by the school districts before
it can be presented to students. Gmoser said officials at a few
districts had expressed reservations about giving students too much
information about heroin and making them curious enough to try it.

Fairfield Superintendent Paul Otten didn't express that concern, but
said he would have to take details of the program back to his school
board to see if they would be interested in participating. Otten said
he was invited to the presentation, but knew nothing about how the
initiative would work until Gmoser unveiled it Friday.

Susan Cross Lipnickey, who heads the Butler County Opiate Task Force,
said the initiative has potential to reach some students, but won't
provide a cure-all.

"I think education is important. I think peer-to-peer is very
effective. I think self-esteem is absolutely critical. (But) not
everything works for everybody. This will be very effective for some
people. It's a complex problem and we're all looking for a magic
bullet," Lipnickey said.

John Bohley, executive director of the Butler County Alcohol and Drug
Addiction Services Board, said recent surveys of high school students
on drug and alcohol use indicate that reported heroin use is low
compared to alcohol and marijuana.

He cautioned that drug education programs need to be fine-tuned so
they don't backfire by piquing a student's curiosity about the drug,
leading to experimentation.

"You have to be careful," Bohley said. "You don't over-exaggerate it.
You give them the straight information."
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