RURAL AREAS GRAPPLE WITH INFLUX OF DRUGS

Peer Pressure, Boredom Are Blamed; After-School Activities Cited as Solution

HANCOCK -- When the bell rings at Hancock Central School each afternoon,
some students wander around this tiny village on the banks of the east and
west branches of the Delaware River with nothing to do.

"If the kids don't play sports, they just come out and hang out," said
18-year-old Jesse Van Loan, who dropped out of school but later earned his
GED. "There's all kinds of places for adults around here but there's
nothing for kids."

Van Loan said he thinks the lack of activities in small towns like Hancock
is one factor that leads young people to try drugs. Once thought of as an
urban problem in places like Binghamton, drugs have been gradually seeping
into rural areas. The problem hit home with last month's overdose death of
18-year-old Phillip Conklin, one of Van Loan's best friends.

In what police believe is the first fatal case of its kind in New York,
Conklin and 20-year-old Matthew Allen of Conklin used the Internet to find
a drug recipe and ordered research chemicals from an out-of-state facility,
police said. Both were hospitalized after taking the drugs. Allen survived
and is undergoing drug rehabilitation.

"We're infested with drugs," Chenango County Sheriff Thomas Loughren said.
"It's everywhere."

Small rural counties like Chenango and Delaware are part of a nationwide
trend. A study by the National Center on Addictions and Substance Abuse
revealed eighth-graders in rural areas were 104 percent more likely than
their urban counterparts to try amphetamines, 50 percent more likely to
smoke or sniff cocaine, 83 percent more likely to try crack and 34 percent
more likely to try marijuana.

Delaware County Undersheriff Douglas Vredenburgh has seen drug arrests
escalate during the past decade from eight in 1992 to 45 in 2000. In March,
Broome County deputies seized nearly a ton of marijuana worth $6 million
from a barn in Masonville, Delaware County. All county law-enforcement
agencies joined together to form a task force three years ago to crack down
on drug dealers.

Chenango County has had two drug-related homicides in the past three years.
Xavier Lee Valentine of Staten Island is serving 23 years to life in prison
for the July 2000 shooting death of Edward Pastore Jr. of Norwich, a
marijuana dealer. Police continue to investigate who shot 38-year-old
Thomas L. Francisco inside his Pharsalia trailer on July 7, 1999.

Why is it happening? One reason is aggressive law-enforcement techniques in
larger cities, including Binghamton, are pushing dealers into the country.

"Drug dealers just try to find a place where they're not going to be
bothered," said state police Lt. Patrick Garey of Community Narcotics
Enforcement Team.

Dealers are always looking for new customers and prey on high school
students, Vredenburgh said.

"They're establishing a customer that's going to be, unfortunately, a
customer for many years to come if they can ever kick that habit," he said.

It's a simple matter of supply and demand, said Alan Wilmarth, director of
addictions and outpatient mental services for United Health Services.

"As long as the demand is there, somebody's going to meet it," he said.

Ben Baudendistel, a 17-year-old junior at Hancock Central School, looks
east for the source of the problem. Hancock is located off Route 17, a few
hours from New York City.

"All these kids come up from the city. They bring all this stuff with
them," he said. Police agreed.

"It's certainly worth it for them to come and sell because they make so
much money," and have less competition, Loughren said. A piece of heroin
that sells for $5 in New York City may cost $20 here.

Young people aren't immune to the problem. In Tioga County, a survey by the
Tioga County Youth Bureau of seventh-, ninth- and 11th-graders last year
revealed that 9.7 percent of seventh-graders had tried marijuana, 30.9
percent of ninth-graders had tried it and 48.4 percent of juniors had tried
it. Less than 1 percent of ninth- and 11th-graders had tried heroin, while
cocaine use amounted to 1.4 percent for seventh-graders, 3 percent for
ninth-graders and 3.1 percent for juniors.

Tioga County Drug Abuse Resistance Education Officer Phil Brown and
students blame peer pressure.

"They're naturally curious. They hear other kids talk about it," Brown said.

"It's a small part of the world just trying to fit in," said Chris Rhodes,
a 16-year-old junior at Hancock.

Some people mistakenly think trying drugs is part of growing up, Wilmarth said.

"That myth is still out there: that somehow it's a harmless rite of
passage," he said.

Young people struggling with poverty or family problems may seek relief
through drugs. And a child who doesn't make the basketball team or the
honor roll may be at higher risk, Brown said.

"People who are low in self-esteem are more apt to become involved in drugs
and alcohol," he said.

Van Loan said boredom is a major factor. Hancock has a few grocery stores,
drug stores and video stores but no after-school supervised hangouts. Owego
has a Boys and Girls Club where kids can play games, get help with their
homework or hang out in a safe, supervised environment.

"There's nothing here in this town," Van Loan said. "All the kids just hang
out in the streets."

A student involved in school activities or at an after-school club may be
too busy to get into trouble, said Anthony Micha, superintendent of Waverly
Central School.

"The more activities kids are into, the less likely they are to stray into
abusive areas," he said.

But Joseph "Chris" Dyer, principal of Hancock Central School, said the size
of the community doesn't matter.

"Rural America is no different than urban America. It's just the fact that
our kids are kids, and we need to protect them," he said.

Delaware County doesn't have the DARE program. But Hancock offers character
education and invites classroom and assembly speakers who talk about the
danger of drugs, Dyer said.

"The drugs are out there. We need to be persistent in our focus to keep
giving kids the message that drugs are not good," he said.

In Hancock, some teen-agers say Conklin's death was a wake-up call that
made them change their ways. Van Loan found a shaking, glassy-eyed Conklin
on the banks of the river and got him help. Then he watched his friend
slowly die in Binghamton General Hospital as life-support machines beeped
and blood trickled from his nose.

"Nobody really parties any more. Nobody pops pills any more," Van Loan said.

Despite the best efforts of those who fight the war on drugs, even foot
soldiers like Vredenburgh worry about their own children. He is the father
of a high school student and a college student.

"I say a prayer every day that the decisions they make are the right ones,"
he said.

[SIDEBAR]

For More Information

Parents may attend a presentation by Steven Steiner, founder of Dads and
Mad Moms Against Drug Dealers (DAMMADD), at 7 p.m. May 22 at Hancock
Central School.

How to Help

A scholarship has been set up in memory of Phillip Conklin at Hancock and
Deposit central schools for the winners of an essay contest on how to make
children aware of and keep them off drugs. A bank account has been set up
at NBT Bank in Deposit. Send donations to the Phillip Conklin Scholarship
Fund to P.O. Box 262, Deposit, N.Y. 13754.

Tips For Parents

* Know your children's friends, what they're doing and where they are.

* Don't be afraid to call and check on your child.

* Don't be afraid to snoop in your child's room.

* Watch for changes in personality, mood or grades.

Sources: Tioga County Dare Officer Phil Brown, Lt. Patrick Garey Sr. of the
Community Narcotics Enforcement Team.