'Stop with the stigma'

BY LINDA SMITH HANCHARICK
WEST MILFORD — Cars spilled over from the West Milford Township Library and Community Center onto the town hall parking lot last Thursday evening as about 50 people came out to the Community Against Substance Abuse (CASA)-sponsored "town hall" event on heroin and opioids.
The purpose of the gathering was to hear from the community; to gather ideas and concerns and share information.
"As a prevention organization, so much of what CASA does is focused on educating the community," said Rebecca Stumpf, the CASA coordinator. "At this meeting it felt like people really came out to educate us. Organizations like CASA require community feedback if they are going to be successful, and we got some pretty good feedback from concerned townspeople."
The panel consisted of several CASA members, West Milford Police Det. Eric Darnsteadt, West Milford Schools Superintendent Alex Anemone and high school principal Paul Gorski.
Some statisticsDarnsteadt said the issue of opioids and heroin came to the forefront for them in 2008-2009 when the arrests started turning up heroin more and more.
"We can't talk about heroin without talking about prescription drugs," said Darnsteadt. Often, that is where it all starts.
The United States is 4.6 percent of the world's population, he said. Yet the United States consumes 80 percent of the world's opioids and 99 percent of the oxycodone produced.
One way West Milford and other communities have tried to combat prescription drug abuse was to install a prescription dropbox in the front lobby of the police department. It is accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It was installed in August 2016 and in the 11 months since, they have collected 450 pounds of unused medications, according to Darnsteadt.
Yet the number of overdoses and deaths continue to rise. All police units in town carry Narcan, a nasal spray used to counteract the effects of opioids, saving people from overdose death. In 2016, West Milford Police deployed narcan seven times; so far in 2017, they've used it 16 times.
There were four overdose deaths in the township in 2016; so far in 2017 there have been four.
Part of the issue is heroin and other drugs containing fentanyl, an opioid drug many times more powerful than heroin and morphine. Fentanyl and fentanyl analogues have flooded the drug scene, he said. Fentanyl is given to people with advanced cancer; it is an anesthetic. Now, it is being mixed with heroin as well as being pressed into pill form to look like oxycontin. Fentanyl is highly resistant to Narcan so more doses are needed in order to revive someone.
Fentanyl is als very toxic. Darnsteadt talked about an office in Ohio who had just come from a drug scene and dusted off his vest. The substance was fentanyl and the office inhaled it, causing him to go into overdose. It took six doses of narcan to help him.
Training teachers Anemone said the district is reworking its Health and Physical Education curriculum this summer. Glenn Huber, a board of education member as well as a CASA member, asked what training is given to teachers to identify mental health issues, which often are precursors to drug abuse. They participate in online modules and they are planning more, Anemone said. Also, there are social workers in the schools.
The district does not have Narcan in any schools.
"You better get some Narcan," said Skip McLaughlin, executive director of New Life Recover Center, which recently moved from West Milford to Pompton Lakes. "I just say why not have it."
The high school has a random drug testing program. All students who participate in any extracurricular activities or who drive to school must be in the pool to be drug tested. They test about 500 students each school year. This year they got 10 positive tests for marijuana. The testing doesn't test for alcohol. Of the 1,100 students at the high school, 951 are in the random drug screening program. They are pushing for the others to "opt in." Last year, there was only one student who opted in to the testing pool without being required. The school is putting a push on parents to opt their students into the program.
The district may also test if they believe there is reason to do so.
Consequences range from missing two months of the student's activity for a first offense to being kicked out for good if testing positive a fourth time.
On a second positive, the students are referred to outside treatment. There is also a six-month follow-up testing done.
One man in the audience questioned removing the student from their activity. "It may be the only good, constructive thing they do."
Real life skillsA young woman in the audience, a senior in college, suggested that schools teach students how to handle the situation when a friend has addiction issues.
"I didn't know many addicts in high school," said the woman, but I met so many in college."
She said one of her friends was a straight-A student in college, with a grade point average above 4.0 in a very competitive nursing program. She was using.
Another friend went to Florida to rehab for two weeks. He died.
"I wasn't enough," she said. "If I knew how to react to an addict... you don't know what to do."
She offered to work with the school district as they rework their curriculum, noting kids should be forced to learn about this.
"These are real life skills," said Stumpf.

Families Anonymous coming to HewittLaura, a member of Living Word Church in Hewitt, spoke of her family's struggle with addiction. There was shame as neighbors avoided the family, and there were no resources for them.
"We have to talk about more preventative programs and educate parents," she said. And recognizing mental illness has to be part of the process, she said.
Her church has agreed to host Families Anonymous, a 12-step fellowship program for families and friends dealing with someone with destructive behavior, whether caused by drugs, alcohol, mental illness or behavioral problems. The planning meeting will be held on Thursday, Aug. 3, located at 93 Lake Shore Drive in Hewitt. Refreshments are served at 7:15 p.m. and the meeting runs from 7:35 to 9 p.m.
For more information about Families Anonymous, email lakin@optonline.net or text 845-988-7325.
There are many other groups available in West Milford and surrounding towns for those with addiction issues as well as their families and friends. For meeting information, call:
Narcotics Anonymous 732-933-0462 or go to www.nanj.org
Alcoholics Anonymous 908-687-8566 or www.nnjaa.org
'Stop with the stigma'Eric Koster, a member of CASA, described himself as a crazy kid when he was young. Others with addiction issues were not. They were excellent students who behaved in class and participated in sports and clubs.
"Stop with the stigma," Koster said. "Anybody can become an addict."
He urged the group to push for more consequences for kids who test positive, including mandated rehab. And he said a DWI reenactment is not what he wants to see.
"I want to see a parent who lost their kid talk to new parents coming into Macopin," Koster said.
Depends how you look at itStumpf was happy to see many new faces at the town hall meeting.
"While we could have accommodated more people, what I did see was a lot of new faces," she said. "Hopefully those who came to the town hall will find themselves coming back to attend our monthly CASA meetings, which are all open to the public."
Koster, though, wasn't happy with the turnout.
"There are 40, 50 people in this room. This is horrible. This is nothing. We have to face facts. There heroin epidemic is here. We've got the wool over our eyes."
Editor's note: The next CASA meeting will be held at the West Milford Township Library and Community Center on Monday, Aug. 14, at 7 p.m. The public is invited.
For more about the meeting, go to westmilfordmessenger.com.