Parents must be alert, experts say

Drug addiction can begin anywhere -- even in a grocery store.

At age 10, Stephanie Ferraro bought two cans of whipped cream while on a family vacation at the Jersey Shore and sucked the nitrous oxide from the nozzle. That seemingly innocent supermarket trip sparked the evolution of a curious pre-adolescent into a drug addict.

Stephanie, a Mendham resident and now 15, has been in a drug rehabilitation program for four months battling her craving for cocaine. Her father, Bob, was able to get her help before she advanced to heroin use. She is one of 65 teen drug addicts being treated at Daytop Village in Mendham Township.

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