One thing that concerned parents in attendance learned is that there are resources available. Jim Tinger, director of the New Paltz Youth Program, has worked for years to provide a safe, drug-free space in the program’s drop-in center where kids can socialize, play physical or video games or do homework. The program also runs weekly GAMES nights at the middle school on Saturdays, and provides tutoring directly in 45 different middle-school classes. The program maintains a zero-tolerance policy for being under the influence of any substance, and showing up like that leads to a conversation that includes parents, if they are at all engaged. “Lots of times the parents were not around, and then I focus more on the kid,” said Tinger. “Pills are easy for a 12-year-old who feels like [expletive deleted].” In addition, “I don’t give lifetime bans,” because children tend to change very quickly and he feels that they should have the opportunity to benefit from good decisions.
So strong is the bond that Tinger has forged with the kids who come to the center that more than once he’s been visited by one years later when they needed help. “I’ve had 25-, 26-, 27-year-olds come back to me, addicted to heroin, and they’re lost,” he said.
The decisions one makes while in the throes of heroin addiction do tend to have lingering effects. Even though David didn’t steal from loved ones, he said, “No one cares that you’re clean,” meaning that he found he had to prove himself again and again because he just wasn’t trusted. That included “working crappy jobs,” and getting to them on a bicycle, since he’d lost his driving privileges. Tyler, who stole from family and friends alike and chronically lied about his habit, is still wrestling with trust issues. Rachel only hints at choices she made in order to get heroin during her relatively short addiction, but it’s clear that she’s still haunted by them.
Problem is getting worse
While it’s difficult to gather information about drug addiction because of health privacy laws, people such as New Paltz Police Chief Joseph Snyder and Dr. Weinman have the impression that the problem is getting worse locally, not better. Recently, a man stopped by police in New Paltz had nearly $40,000 worth of cocaine and heroin in his possession.
Tyler, who still has friends in New Paltz, has heard rumors that heroin has made it into the middle school; at the community forum, New Paltz Rescue Squad member Ellen Dietz confirmed picking up a middle school student for an overdose that very morning, although she did not confirm what drug was involved.
People at the forum had the general sense that since the discontinuation of the DARE program, there has been no drug education or intervention programs in the New Paltz School District. Attempts to reach Superintendent Maria Rice for comment were unsuccessful, as she was ill and not in the office in time to respond.
DARE, which stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education, gets low marks from both David and Tyler, neither of whom thought it was effective in hammering home the dangers. “You can’t just tell a kid no, because then he’s going to turn around and try harder to do it,” said Tyler. David agreed, saying, “‘Don’t’ doesn’t change anything for a rebellious kid. It could push them to it.” Instead, both recommended that introducing schoolchildren to real-life addicts would be more successful in getting the message across. They also agree on another point, that addicts need help, not jail, and that the stigma associated with heroin being illegal only exacerbates the problem.
“They know what they’re doing wrong,” David said. “They just don’t know how to stop.” He pointed to Portugal, where all drugs were decriminalized, and said that people in the United States are much more likely to use. “It’s kind of insane,” he said. He scoffed at the idea that heroin addicts are the product of bad parenting or are bad apples. “It’s actually the culture,” he said. “There’s no real solid push to look at this problem.” Moreover, he’s come to realize through his nutritional training that rehabilitation does its own damage. “There are no nutritional supplements, and you’re fed crappy, processed foods. They replace addiction with sugar, and just talk at them all day.”
Greater New Paltz Community Partnership
More effective are some of the programs developed by the Greater New Paltz Community Partnership (GNPCP), including training high school students in mental first aid, how to have difficult conversations with peers and adults about drugs, and knowing how and when to intervene in a situation. Focusing on communication, particularly between parents and children, was a strategy many people at the forum recommended.
“Kids aren’t good at keeping secrets,” Tinger said. “Let them know it’s okay to talk, and that they won’t get in trouble.”
“Police are the last to know” when there’s a problem, said New Paltz Police Lieutenant Rob Lucchesi, who agreed that the GNPCP programs were far more likely to yield results than an intervention requiring law enforcement. Police do have a critical role to play, however; in addition to being a reliable source of Narcan — all officers are now trained in its administration — there’s also a prescription drug collection box outside the police station where old drugs can be dropped anonymously. In September, Lucchesi said, 550 pounds of medication was turned over to the DEA. New Paltz officers are now also being given mental health training.
The sheer amount of pills collected by the police through that voluntary program seems to reinforce Dr. Weinman’s position, that prescriptions are often simply larger than is needed for a given condition. While there is a greater amount of pressure being exerted on doctors by state regulators to manage that, patients can also obtain a lock box to secure their medications. There’s a program at Dedrick’s Pharmacy to help keep dangerous drugs safe at home.
Heroin is in the community, and part of a wider opiate addiction problem which is being wrestled with throughout the country. Silence about the problem can keep people from getting the help they need, but addiction itself can render that aid moot until the person with the problem is ready to work towards breaking it. The issues are complex, and just as there is no one cause, there is likewise no one type of person who falls prey to these drugs. Experts agree, however, that more communication is always preferable to less when it comes to confronting addiction. That’s where the connections can be made that might lead to a solution for a given individual, when he or she is ready to do that work.
“There is a light at the end of the tunnel,” said David, “even if you can’t see it.”
An Ulster County community forum, entitled “The Fight Against the Opioid and Heroin Crisis,” will take place on Thursday, April 28, 6 to 8 p.m., at the Ulster BOCES Conference Center in New Paltz. Come hear and learn from the experts and share your experiences and insights.
Thanks for a truly in-depth, well-written, excellent article!