Drug Free Massapequa Explores Teen Drug Use

Using drugs has become too much of an instant problem solver for many teens on Long Island, that was the message parents and other anti-drug activists heard at Tuesday night's monthly meeting of Drug Free Massapequa.

Having to deal with life's challenges including loneliness, depression and peer pressure can be too much to handle for teens and often, they are turning to mind altering drugs, according to Steven Chassman from Long Island Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence. The results can often be deadly.

"One a day – we are losing one person a day to overdose. Not all cases are fatalities but still, they overdosed," said Chassman, who was one of two speakers who addressed the meeting at Marjorie Post Park.

Making matters worse is using dangerous substances in the age of the internet. Photographs and webcams have captured countless teens at their most vulnerable moments.  Some of those moments can't be erased.

"When kids binge and smoke weed nowadays, those images end up on Facebook for thousands of people to see," Chassman said.

"I'm not saying that Facebook is not a great tool to keep in contact with family and friends, but people do post pictures of themselves smoking a joint or drinking a keg,"

It's the main reason why Chassman is adamant about parents viewing their children's Facebook page."We have a serious health crisis going on. If parents don't intervene, the outcome is life threatening. Parents must have an open dialogue with their kids," he said. 

According to LICADD, 40 percent of those who start drinking and drugging at age 13 or younger develop dependence later in life. Chassman went into detail during the meeting about the numerous drugs available to teens from cannabis to hallucinogens to opiates to sedatives and how they changes one's mind and mood. "I had a kid in my office the other day shaking like a leaf," he said.

"He had been taking oxycodine with his friends. He couldn't stop shaking and he was scared. Peer pressure is a very powerful thing. There is a lot of work that needs to be done but there is hope." 

Nassau County  Police Det. Pamela Stark, who also spoke, has seen drug arrests involving kids first-hand and knew she wanted to find a better way.

 "We can't arrest our way out of this problem and that is why we came up with Too Good For Drugs," she said. 

Too Good for Drugs is a  narcotics prevention training program led by Stark which encourages kids to make positive decisions. "When you don't feel good about yourself, you are vulnerable to everything. I teach kids the stepping stones to reach their goals. We do role plays in the schools, for example, What do you do at a party when someone offers you drugs?"

Tackling the drug problem is a team effort, said Drug Free Massapequa Co-Founder and President Janice Talento. "We have to join together to fix this serious drug problem that is affecting so many lives."