Pubdate: Thu, 21 May 2009 Source: Asbury Park Press (NJ) Copyright: 2009 Asbury Park Press Contact: http://www.app.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/26 Author: Jennifer Bradshaw Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth) COUNSELORS TO PARENTS: HELP US FIGHT DRUG WAR MIDDLETOWN -- According to student assistance counselor Rosemary Richards, heroin has made the jump in recent decades from a drug that was predominantly an inner-city problem to one that has spread into the suburbs. The youngest case of addiction she's dealt with was an eighth-grade student who was getting the drug from his sister. On Thursday night, the school district presented "Substance Abuse and Teens: What Every Parent Needs to Know," to discuss the warning signs of drug and alcohol abuse. Held in the wake of the drug-related death of a High School South senior in April, the program discussed signs of abuse, intervention tactics and the implications of parental enabling. "Once you hand the power over, through enabling, it is really tough to grab it back," said George Obermeier, another student assistance counselor. Obermeier, along with colleagues Richards and Terry Columbo, stressed the importance of parental awareness and intervention, particularly focusing on parental communication with kids, and willingness to seek professional help when a child is showing warning signs. "During the course of one week, I talk to more parents than are here right now," Obermeier said to the fewer than 100 parents gathered in the High School North auditorium. The district is fairly well versed in drug awareness. Middletown was one of the first districts in the state to adopt random drug testing policies, and this year expanded the random drug test to include prescription drugs such as Oxycontin. Awareness programs also are held annually for students, particularly around prom time, and their prom contract recently has been reinforced with stricter penalties for being caught using drugs or alcohol during these events. According to statistics provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2007, 31.8 percent of surveyed students in grades 9-12 had used marijuana one or more times; 13.3 percent of those students had used an inhalant, such as breathing aerosol fumes, 7.2 percent had used a form of cocaine, 4.4 percent had used methamphetamines and 3.9 percent had illegally used steroids. Pot's not the same Marijuana is no longer as innocent as the drug used by many parents in their youth, Richards said. "The THC content is much higher than anything available in the '70s," she said. Additives like heroin and formaldehyde may be mixed in as well, she said. The counselors offered informational handouts about support groups in the area, counseling and crisis management teams that offer reasonably priced support to families, and crisis numbers to call. They also stressed that the counselors in both the middle and high schools are a confidential source to be utilized by both parents and students to discuss drug use, depression and suicidal tendencies in students. Counselors will do everything they can to keep students safe, but parents need to take the lead in the war on drugs, Columbo said. "We cannot do this alone. I can't be more worried about your child than you are," she said. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D