Pubdate: Wed, 3 Mar 1999 Source: Standard-Times (MA) Copyright: 1999 The Standard-Times Contact: http://www.s-t.com/ Author: Monica Allen, Standard-Times staff writer FALL RIVER DRUG WAR FOUGHT ONE BATTLE AT A TIME City's addicts continue risks FALL RIVER -- In a small classroom tucked in the back of a downtown store, a teen-age girl tells three other teens how her father's drug abuse scared his family members and friends away. It made it difficult for her. Two of the girls, who hunch over the table in their parkas, listen silently while a third shrugs her shoulders. This after-school program for youth offenders is one of the latest attempts by the Fall River Juvenile Court and the Portuguese Youth Cultural Organization to reach children who experiment with drugs before it's too late. Seven months ago, the court system and the nonprofit community organization launched this pilot project to provide small groups of teens with intensive after-school classes on drug and alcohol abuse, AIDS, anger management and smoking. Alan Silvia, the executive director of PYCO, says he believes this type of program can help Fall River stem the drug problem among young people. "We know crack cocaine is at a high point," he said. And statistics show that Fall River is also troubled by a significant heroin problem with more than 2,000 heroin users admitted to substance abuse counseling programs in 1998, according to the state Bureau of Substance Abuse. The youth program requires the teens to attend one class a week for six weeks. During that time, they are also referred to an individual substance abuse counselor if one is deemed necessary. More than 70 percent of the 150 youths have been referred to a counselor for individual sessions. The program also requires that parents attend the children's classes on the first and final week. Parents are also referred to a substance abuse counselor if they have a substance problem. Some 60 parents have been referred to counseling. "I know the more we can involve parents in the process, the more we can reach kids," said Mr. Silvia. But even with this program, Mr. Silvia says much more is needed to address the drug problem in Fall River. His words are echoed by other community leaders who reacted this week to a Standard-Times series on the drug problem in the SouthCoast, which showed Fall River with the highest number of people seeking treatment for drugs of any community in the region. "I don't know if you ever win a war on drugs," said Mayor Edward M. Lambert Jr. "But you've got to make the effort." Mr. Lambert said he has supported increased police attention on drug trafficking and greater efforts to give young people alternatives to drugs within school and after school. "We've had some of the biggest arrests in the last year or two," he said, crediting this to greater emphasis by the police. Mr. Lambert said that he also believes the School Department has worked effectively to educate youth in health classes and to provide after-school programs. "We have 800 kids at our middle school level in after-school programs." The city also runs a youth job program that employed 350 teens last year, he said. School Superintendent James M. Gibney said he believes the alcohol problem is still a larger one among school children than drugs. "But we're hearing about more drug abuse among parents," he said. "I can't give you any statistics, but it's a feel you get." "Kids are coming to school very needy both physically and emotionally and it's obvious something is going on at home to cause the kids to react the way they do in school." Church leaders are also talking about the drug problem and the role the church can play in finding solutions. The Rev. Jim Hornsby, co-rector of St. Luke Episcopal Church, said he knows that many members of his parish, both young and old, suffer from drug addictions. "I don't think we ever can be sufficiently aggressive against this evil," he said. "My own feeling is that the most effective solutions are the old-fashioned ones," he said. "Helping kids to be at school, making sure school is important and helping them to get jobs." "We try to teach kids to be responsible for themselves, to view their bodies as part of God's creation," he said. Back in the classroom at PYCO, teacher Elizabeth Ponte has written the word "choices" on a board at the front of the room. She then shows a movie to the four teen-age girls in which female prisoners talk about how drugs sent their lives into a whirlpool of prostitution, violence and prison. When Ms. Ponte asks the girls if the prison seems scary, one girl says "somewhat." Another plays tough. "I'd be able to handle it. I'd keep to myself." - --- MAP posted-by: Don Beck