Families, towns finding ways to fight drug abuse

SALISBURY — Mary Marcuccio, who formed Parents 4 A Change after her son became addicted to heroin, does not mince words.

“ I believe in interfering with the drug process. Years ago there was an ad with the actor Carroll O’Connor — “Archie Bunker†— who lost his son to an overdose. He said, ‘Get between your kids and drugs, any way you can.’â€

Marcuccio and Wayne Kowal from the Connecticut State Police Statewide Narcotics Task Force were at the Salisbury Congregational Church Thursday, Aug. 20, for a meeting of parents, professionals, parishioners and the public about drug use in the Northwest Corner,  especially among teens and young adults.

The audience was small; the messages were loud and clear.

Kowal, whose title is Trainer/Coordinator of Public Education, began by pointing out that today’s marijuana is considerably stronger than the pot available in the 1970s (10 to 12 percent THC — the chemical that provides the effect — versus 1 to 2 percent in the past).

More disturbing, Kowal said, is that the initial drug of choice — the “gateway†drug— for children 12 years old and up statewide is not pot, as popularly supposed.

It is “diverted pharmaceuticals†— usually opiate painkillers, and usually obtained from the family medicine cabinet.

“Think how this is going to impact our children,†said Kowal. “Opiate pain medications are typically slow-release pills. On the street their value is $1 per milligram.â€

So an 80 mg OxyContin pill (one of the most commonly sought-after brands) is $80.

“Even for a kid from a well-off family, the habit is too expensive to maintain at $200 to $500 per day,†said Kowal. “So the question becomes, how can I maintain this habit?

“And that leads us to the heroin.â€

Changes in the production and distribution of heroin over the last 25 years have resulted in a much purer product at a much cheaper price in the Northeast. Kowal said the federal Drug Enforcement Agency considers heroin the top drug threat in the region.

Columbian drug organizations, middlemen for Afghan suppliers until 1993, decided they could grow their own opium poppies. They already had a well-established network for smuggling and distributing cocaine.

The net result, said Kowal, is the child who develops an opiate addiction with the expensive prescription medications can get a comparable (some users say better) high for a fraction of the price by switching to heroin, which is of sufficient purity that users can smoke or snort the drug, thus avoiding the fear and stigma of using syringes.

How cheap is heroin in Connecticut?

“In the 1970s, the purity of street heroin was about 20 percent, and a bag (about a tenth of a gram) was $20,†said Kowal.

“Now a bag in Hartford is about $4 — less if you buy in quantity. The price climbs a little as you get farther from Hartford or New Haven. And the purity is much, much higher.â€

Kowal urges parents to take immediate, specific action: Keep medications locked up, take inventory (especially on prescriptions labeled “take as neededâ€); educate yourself and your child; properly dispose of medications.

 â€œAlmost by default, a heroin user is a heroin seller. He will sell three or four bags from his bundle [of 10] to get money for the next day. So now you have not just use but trafficking.â€

Emotional, financial costs

Marcuccio described the turmoil in her family’s life that resulted from her son’s addiction. “Kids get started with what they believe is recreational use. They may have experience with a wide variety of other drugs, and don’t realize the danger of opiates. ‘I didn’t know this [heroin] was any different.’

“Your child becomes a walking, breathing demon.

“Some of the best conversations with my son came when he was stoned out of his mind. He was intelligent, insightful — until he fell asleep.

“And when he wakes up, you’ve got the demon, who is focused on getting more heroin.â€

When parents interfere, she said, “You’re going to get pushed, shoved.†Parents can expect loud confrontations and violence.

“He is going to get that drug.â€

And the police will be involved. “They will go to jail, to prison. They will overdose. There will be near-overdoses — I call them the ‘Oh My Gods.’

“There will be suicide attempts.You will spend more money on this than you ever imagined. Money for professionals — lawyers, doctors, counselors, rehabs. Insurance, bail bondsmen. Tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars.

“And you get to watch the user waste away. Addicts don’t eat, they don’t sleep. They prowl around at night like cats. They don’t work, they don’t do anything to sustain themselves.â€

Parents need to take immediate action, according to Marcuccio. “You don’t want to wait until high school, when your child already has two or three years of drug experience.

“The typical heroin user is a Caucasian male, 18-25, in a suburban or rural town. It’s your kid, my kid, your grandchild. Ignorance and denial are killing our children. Statistically speaking, if your kid does not get off heroin he will die or go to prison.

“I didn’t wake up one morning and decide to be an activist,†she added. “I was so moved by my anger, I spoke out about it.â€

Out of the closet

Parents 4 A Change deals with two types of families: parents already in  crisis and those willing to help the community.

The group has three primary goals:

1. Raise awareness that adolescents and teens are using opiates

2. Work with parents and communities to find deterrents

3. Create a support system for parents and families

“Whatever we need to do for your family, we will do,†said Marcuccio, who has developed an extensive network of attorneys, counselors, physicians, detoxes, rehabs, bail bondsmen and other professionals.

Kowal echoed Marcuccio’s insistence on gettng the problem out in the open. “If I can drive one point home it is this: Secretiveness drives drug use. Keeping it secret is the worst thing you can do. Let your family, neighbors, teachers know, and create a community of people†willing to help provide deterrents.

Many of the suggestions involve increased parental vigilance. “If kids have access to a credit card and the Internet, they can buy prescription opiates from Mexico,†said Kowal. “Look at the monthly bills. There is no privacy here.â€

 â€œIt does take a village,†Marcuccio said, “and you have a pretty nice one here. Create a block watch. Basically it’s nosy neighbors — and it’s fabulous.â€

Marcuccio urges parents to “go one-on-one.â€

If a child goes to a friend’s to hang out, “I go to the other house; 35 minutes later, I show up, go in, go downstairs and embarrass them.

“You are not your kid’s friend.†A teenager once told me, ‘Your job [as a parent] is to be mean.’ And being strict also gives your kid an out: ‘Are you kidding? Do you have any idea what my mother would do to me?’â€

Marcuccio urges that teens not have a  lock on their bedroom door, which legally creates an expectation of privacy. “Get rid of the lock if it’s there. Take away the car, the keys, the cell phone. Do not be complicit if you can help it.â€

It’s everyone’s problem

Parents 4 A Change also works with the community at large. “If there are no issues in your home, why is this your problem?†asked Marcuccio rhetorically.

“The addict is driving on your streets, he is in school with your kid. He is waiting for you to go to work so he can break in and steal your stuff. He doesn’t want to hurt you but he needs his drugs.

“When you have a teen whose brain has been hijacked by this drug, he will wind up with felony charges, and felony convictions. As a community, what does that mean?

“Let’s say the addict gets better. How is he going to work? The military and the medical and educational professions are largely closed to him. In most places he cannot register to vote. He cannot get financial aid for college. Even the default jobs won’t hire the felon now, so no more flipping burgers for a while until something better comes along.

“In these circumstances, we have given him a reason to go back to using drugs. As a community, we have created a disabled human being.

“Why can’t we work on the addiction? Take away the addiction, you take away the criminality. These are not bad kids. They are not disposable.â€

Here are the options, as Marcuccio sees the situation:

“We can do nothing. Or we can be proactive and interfere with the drug process. Expand it to the neighborhood. Every kid in my town knows to stay away from my house. Make your home and community unfriendly to drug use and activity.â€

Much of this goes against the grain, she acknowledges.  Asked by a member of the small audience how to get the parents who weren’t here involved, she replied, “We can start by creating an environment. Most parents believe somehow it’s their fault. This belief keeps you locked up. It’s not about fault.â€

Another woman asked, “Could we start a group like yours?â€

“Just give me a call,†said Marcuccio.

Success is hard to measure

Marcuccio says that between 70 and 80 percent of the teens she comes in contact with through the group’s activities eventually get off heroin.

How does she define succes? In an e-mail, she elaborated: “I guess that means a parent followed or is following my ‘program’†— the interfering strategies plus a medical consultation.

“Those two things together are the  recipe, if that’s the word, for a good chance at recovery. Please  understand that these numbers change daily, depending on how many kids are in the group. This doesn’t happen overnight, either; it’s a process that can takes weeks or months to ‘finish,’ that’s why the numbers are variable.

“I guess my best definition of recovery is a kid who is clean of drugs and on a recovery path [working, in school, participating in life somehow]. And understand that relapse is a part of the recovery process, so again, the numbers change. One day a kid is ‘in recovery,’ the next week he relapses, gets back on the wagon, and is clean again.â€

Marcuccio does not claim the process is easy, and emphasizes that it requires a major change in attitude — for the parents.

She recalled a simple remark that changed her perspective. “My son said, ‘Mom, you don’t get it. I like to get high. I’d rather get high than do anything else.’

“It never occurred to us that our kid was different. He likes to get high.

“We [parents] go in with our perspective. The families that are successful adapt and change. I had to change the way I think.â€

Parents 4 A Change, based in Southington, can be reached at parents4achange.net or cal 860-621-1682.