Pubdate: Thu, 05 May 2005
Source: Somerville Journal (MA)
Copyright: 2005 Somerville Journal
Contact:  http://www2.townonline.com/somerville/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3621
Author: Erin Dower

HOW DO YOU FIGHT TEEN DRUG ABUSE?

If you're underage and shooting dope in Somerville, you're going to
have a hard time finding clean needles. Or help getting off the stuff,
for that matter.

"If you're hooked when you're 16 and you can't get help 'til you're
18, you're hopeless - that's when the suicides start," said Danny
McLaughlin, a 21-year-old youth leader for the city's Youth Leadership
Development Program. "We got to pull together and change this."

McLaughlin summed up the city's problems during the second annual
Addictions Community Forum last Wednesday at Somerville High School.
Officials, parents and young people met with representatives of drug
abuse prevention and recovery organizations to discuss solutions to
drug problems, particularly young people's use of opiates, including
OxyContin and heroin.

Last year, a survey of Somerville High School students found that more
than one in 10 seniors had used the painkiller OxyContin when it was
not prescribed to them. The city had dozens of cases of OxyContin
overdoses in 2003.

Stephanie Almeida, the community organizer for the Mayor's Opiate
Prevention Task Force, said it is difficult to get drug abusers into
detox programs, let alone recovery programs.

"Our adolescents are dying because there aren't enough recovery
options for them," said Vicente Sanabria, the director of SCAP. (see
sidebar)

Drug abuse recovery agencies praised Somerville for opening its eyes
to opiate abuse problems, but reminded the city that youth who still
use OxyContin and heroin might be the kid next door.

Jennifer Knowles attended the forum with her two children. She said
she "broke the chain" of addiction in her family and has been sober
for nine years.

"If we don't start with the young kids, we're going to lose them, and
[drug use] is not going to start at 18," Knowles said. "It's going to
start at 10."

Dana Moulton, director of the Massachusetts Organization for Addiction
Recovery, said that unlike other communities, Somerville has
acknowledged its drug problem and involved the community in trying to
resolve them. "Somerville is really a beacon," he said. "You've seen
that you have a problem and you've tackled it head on."

Moulton, a former drug addict and current director of the
Massachusetts Organization for Addiction Recovery, said drugs will
always be available, so treatment for drug users should also be
accessible - especially to young people.

"Programs for children are more important than the shrub in the park,"
he said. "The potholes can wait. The children can't."

Moulton also said "cultural baggage" has contributed to a false
stereotype of what a drug addict looks like.

"We're not people with sawed-off shotguns under our seats," he said.
"We're your neighbor."

How can you get help for your teen?

Mayor Joe Curtatone said people who are worried about a relative or
friend who is using drugs or alcohol or has behavior problems can
attend Families Anonymous meetings, which are held at 7:30 p.m. on
Thursdays at the Tufts Administration Building at 167 Holland St.

Also, SCAP will host a parent workshop on drug use recognition and
prevention at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, May 11, at City Hall. Registration is
required.

To register for the workshop or for more information about Families
Anonymous or other drug prevention and recovery programs, call
617-828-9184 or e-mail For more information about participants in last week's forum, visit
the following Web sites:

http://www.challiance.org/locations/som_teen.htm

http://www.oxyabusekills.org

http://www.neaar.org/moar/index.htm

http://www.casparyouth.org

http://www.state.ma.us/dph/dphhome.htm

http://www.jointogether.org

http://www.al-anon.alateen.org

http://www.familiesanonymous.org

http://www.ccaa.org

Teens have trouble getting help

Somerville does not have any residential detox programs specifically
for people under 18, according to Dr. Mark Albanese, the medical
director of addictions for the Cambridge Health Alliance.

The CHA has 26 detox beds at Somerville Hospital and a busy outpatient
clinic, but both serve adults, Albanese said.

"The phone is always ringing," he said. "There's no shortage of people
looking to get in."

Alabanese said the CHA does not keep a waiting list for its detox
programs, and people get discouraged and leave if there is a line of
patients waiting for services. But anyone who wants treatment receives
it if they are patient and persistent, he said.

Users get clean needles in Cambridge

Eliza Wheeler, who works at Cambridge Cares About AIDS, said the
organization's Needle Exchange Program is drawing an "astounding"
number of people age 18 to 24 - many of them from Somerville.

The Needle Exchange Program is based at an office on Sellers Street in
Central Square, Cambridge. The controversial program is one of four in
the state and it allows injection drug users to exchange dirty needles
for clean ones to prevent the spread of HIV and hepatitis. The program
began 11 years ago and is funded by the state Department of Health.

Wheeler shared a random sampling of 1,294 people who have enrolled in
the program since July 2003. She said 347 people were from Somerville,
compared to 235 from Revere, 181 from Medford, 176 from Malden, 166
from Everett, 131 from Chelsea and 58 from Melrose.

Most months, about 40 to 50 percent of new enrollees in the program
are 18- to 24 year olds, many of whom live at home. About 85 percent
of new enrollees are white and 70 percent are male, she said.

Young people who become heroin addicts typically started using
painkillers, such as OxyContin and Percocet, then began sniffing
heroin and eventually turned to injecting heroin, Wheeler said.

"They think they're invincible," Wheeler said.

The state does not permit the Needle Exchange Program to serve people
under 18, Wheeler said.

Danny McLaughlin, a 21-year-old youth leader for the city's Youth
Leadership Development Program, asked, "Why is the age limit 18 when
there's 16-year-olds in the city who are shooting dope?"

Members of Wednesday's panel said the lack of recovery programs is not
a budget issue, but a policy issue.

Mayor Joe Curtatone said the city "will never shy away" from its drug
problem.

"This is a war and it's not going to be a political solution," he
said. "It's got to be a community response."
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MAP posted-by: Larry Seguin