COMMUNITY SOUNDS OFF ABOUT DRUG ABUSE PROBLEM

Drug use is not only prevalent, it's downright impossible to avoid in
Roslindale. That's what some young people claimed at a recent meeting
of Healthy Roslindale, which painted a picture of a Parkway not as
healthy as some would hope.

The program, which in Roslindale focuses on youth and public safety
issues, held a Thursday night meeting to hear out members of the
community about what they see as the largest source of the drug
problem. In the spring, another event will be held to collect further
input and come up with a plan to help combat drugs in the community.

"What we're trying to do is to first look at data and perceptions by
people, police and courts about drug use in community," said Cathy
Slade, head of Healthy Roslindale.

Neighbors and community members discussed what they thought were the
groups most responsible for eliminating the circulation of drugs.
Slade said they named parents first as the most responsible,
followed by youth workers, teachers and coaches. Police were
listed last, since she said it may be the case that people view them
as intervening figures rather than preventative. She said she did not
recall anyone naming clergy.

"Some of the young people from Roslindale were saying how drugs are
pretty prevalent in their neighborhood and at school," said Slade.
"It's readily available, in a way. They mentioned it's just tough to
stay away from it."

Younger people mentioned marijuana as a common drug in the area.
Drugs changed to cocaine and heroin commensurate among older people.
Slade said one area of drug users often overlooked is those in their
30s and 40s.

"People always think it's young kids," she said, "but people of all
ages are doing drugs."

Roslindale Board of Trade head Lisa Modecker attended, and said she
found the discussion "helpful to get the young people's perspective
about their concerns about drug use, in and around Roslindale.
It was quite telling."

The spring meeting will propel Healthy Roslindale into a position of
coming up with a group plan of attack which Slade said may include
holding community events and working with newspapers to educate
parents about warning signs and things to look for.

"At the next one, we'll talk a lot more about who we should ask for
help in the community," she said.

Amy Helburn, a community health specialist with the Medical
Foundation, which works with Healthy Roslindale, said she was struck
by a woman in one of the discussion groups who said she didn't
believe drugs only limit a specific age group. Earlier, attendees
discussed inhalant and alcohol use among fifth- and sixth-graders
because of the ease of access to the substances.

"Yet, it goes all the way up to folks like senior citizens who might
have a hidden problem with drinking or pharmaceutical drug abuse," she said.

"There's really a big push in public health to affect things at the
community level," said Helburn, to "focus on issues pertaining to
Roslindale itself, that will get people mobilized, keep momentum going."

She added that a good idea for Roslindale would be to partner with
other communities with similar issues, since they may already be
sharing police and medical services.

Mark Prisco, first assistant chief of probation with the West
Roxbury division of Boston Municipal Court, said that 73 percent of
his clients in 2004 had substance abuse problems. "We see it on the
back end," he said.

"One thing we try to do is try to monitor their sobriety, either by
giving drug tests here, or refer them to the Office of Community
Corrections," he said. "If they can't stay clean, there's treatment or jail."

Men's and women's outpatient groups exist where Prisco works, as
well as a program for young offenders between 17 and 21 years old.
"That deals with problems of kids just drinking in the woods, out in
parks or in cars," he said.

"We're trying to help them, but it's a problem. We've seen a lot of
heroin use amongst younger offenders. It's very difficult, we find,
for them to get a handle on it."

But combining regular and random monitoring helps keep drug problems
in check, said Prisco, because of the addition of accountability and
threat of legal consequence.

"That seems to be the weight hanging over their head; they don't
want to go to jail," he said. "But with more sophistication of drug
use; heroin, crack, you see a lot of people fall back. And sometimes
that long-term treatment can be hard to access."

Drug use is not just a Roslindale problem, though, said Prisco.
"It's a problem in every community," he said, and added that
Roslindale is in a good position to improve because it is home to
caring community leaders.

"The key is educating young people and not tolerating the drug
dealers," he said.

Police value community input, such as from crime watch groups, and
often first glean valuable information from them. Those kind of tips
are helpful for pointing out areas with lots of traffic,
where people come and go from a house.

Prisco said that young people can be encouraged to be leaders
themselves. "You can say, it's OK not to do drugs, not to smoke
weed, and support fellow students in a positive manner," he said.
"It's so easy to get addicted."

Healthy Roslindale began operating in 1992 on a city grant for which
neighborhoods across Boston could apply and tailor to their specific
community needs. Three years ago, Slade said the program chose to
focus on youth and public safety issues.