EDITORIAL: Long Island parents, pay attention to heroin

We need to talk about your children and heroin. You're busy, of course. And odds are your kids aren't messing around with drugs. Most aren't. But how's a parent to know?

The fact is, heroin has become a blight on Long Island. People you would never expect to see using such a retrograde drug - bright, suburban teens with good homes and excellent prospects - are getting arrested for possession and dealing. They are dying of overdoses. The message in that for families like yours is that it can happen to anybody.

Oddly, it isn't a national problem. But police in Nassau and Suffolk began to notice an uptick in heroin use a couple of years ago. Initially, school officials were in denial about it. Most aren't anymore. They're working with police to educate students about drugs and holding forums for their communities. Others should join the crusade.

But parents are often the last to know. Don't let that be you - the stakes are too high. Teenagers do all sorts of things they shouldn't. Maybe they smoke cigarettes or drive too fast or stay out too late. That's typical. They can rebound from those bad choices. Heroin is different.

It's a mistake most people don't recover from. It devastates lives - those of users and their loved ones. It's a fast track to degradation, incarceration and death.

You can help to spare your children that fate. But it takes involvement, vigilance and savvy. You have to keep your eyes open and know what to look for.

On Long Island, the road to heroin addiction often starts in your medicine cabinet. Teens raid it in search of a cheap high. They'll settle for most anything in there, but painkillers, drugs like Vicodin and OxyContin, are the big prize. They take them to pharm-parties - where they toss the pills in a bowl and pass them around like snacks.

Kids who don't know any better think these drugs are safe because they were prescribed by doctors. They aren't. Painkillers are dangerous, addictive opiates that can awaken a craving for more - a craving that opportunistic drug dealers are eager to exploit.

For them, middle-class kids with cars (to go looking) and money are easy pickings. And when the medicine cabinet runs dry, they're right there with heroin to fill the void. It's plentiful, pure and cheap - as little as $5 to $10 a bag. A quick trip into Brooklyn or Queens or, judging by recent arrests, somewhere on Long Island, and your bright, popular teenager will soon have her very own stash.

Dealers make it easy for the naive young. The first few doses may even be free - that's just good business. With the 85 percent to 90 percent pure heroin now here from Colombia and Mexico, it won't be long before an occasional user is hooked.

Because it's so pure, kids who'd be turned off by the prospect of sticking a needle in their arms can start by snorting the drug. The needle will likely come later, and by then they're strung out and customers for life.

Police in Nassau and Suffolk have geared up to attack the problem. They've expanded narcotics units and increased cooperation with schools and other police departments. They're working hard to identify users and, through them, bust dealers. Drug-sniffing dogs, tip and text lines, public service announcements and maps of heroin arrests have all been brought to the fray.

Still, the problem is growing.

Memories - or the lack of them - play a big role. Kids today don't know about all the lives heroin destroyed 30 or 40 years ago. They don't realize they're flirting with disaster, including HIV and other dangerous diseases.

On the other hand, parents old enough to remember past heroin plagues think they know what the addiction looks like. In the old days, junkies were emaciated, unkempt poor people nodding off in doorways of bad urban neighborhoods with desperation in their eyes and needle tracks on their arms. My kid can't be using heroin, you may think, because he doesn't look like that.

Neither did Tara Vitone. Or Erik Diorio. Or Natalie Ciappa. These Long Islanders began using heroin as teens, and ended up dead as a result. Ciappa is remembered as a bright, sensitive high school senior, a singer and cheerleader bound for SUNY Old Westbury before an overdose of heroin killed her.

So what should a parent look for? Natalie's mother, Doreen Ciappa, knows and has been sharing her heartbreaking experience with other parents.

Be on the lookout for grades that drop, even a little, she says. Look for a change in interests: if your kids quit playing sports they like, or won't hang out with the family anymore, or take up with a new group of friends.

Pay attention if a child begins to scratch a lot, or uncharacteristically resists being touched. And if they're frequently nodding off, don't let them tell you they're just sleepy.

Talk to your children, and don't worry so much about encroaching on their privacy, she says. Look around their rooms. Consider reading some of their e-mail. After her daughter died, Ciappa found messages saying that Natalie had used heroin.

Experts also recommend that you clean out the medicine cabinet. Move the drugs you need to a secure place and keep track of how many tablets you have. Get rid of the drugs you no longer need - because even if your children wouldn't steal them, one of their friends might.

Police will safely dispose of drugs you turn in. And they'll anonymously analyze drugs - if you happen to find some pills in your kid's things and want to know if they're something to worry about.

Notice if jewelry, cash, electronics or other things start going missing. Addicts steal. And when they've ripped off all they can from family and friends, they'll branch out. Young heroin addicts on Long Island have been arrested for breaking into convenience stores and stealing cigarettes, and even for bank robbery.

And if you discover that your child is using drugs, get help. Treatment programs are available, and they're essential. Very few people kick heroin on their own.

Don't be paranoid, but don't be oblivious either. Your child's life may depend on it. hN