It's not the first death in Homer from drugs. Two years ago, Bethany Woodworth, then 19, died from a drug overdose. Her death shocked the city and caused Homer to look at its drug problem. Town meetings were held. Citizens lobbied successfully to get a drug-detection dog for the Anchor Point Post, Alaska State Troopers. The Homer High School Parent-Teacher Association held a meeting. Troopers and police stepped up enforcement and made some big busts of dealers.
"How many times are we going to go through this as a community before we learn how to deal with the grieving and address the underlying issue?" asked MaryClare Foecke, chair of the Child Advocacy Coalition of Homer, or CACH.
"I'm just so tired of seeing young people's faces on the post office window," said Peg Coleman, director of South Peninsula Haven House, referring to the community practice of posting funeral announcements at the Homer Post Office. "Enough is enough. We have to stop pretending there's not a substance abuse issue."
As rumors of the circumstances surrounding Adams' death moved through town, social service agencies and schools responded. Dave Jones, assistant superintendent for the Kenai Peninsula Borough School District, said Adams did not attend Homer High School, but had friends there and the school responded.
"We grieve deeply for the loss of our youth," said Homer High School Principal Rayna Duenas.
The high school initiated its crisis response plan, Duenas said. Homer schools have a partnership with The Center and South Peninsula Behavioral Health Services. Two school district counselors also help coordinate services within schools and between agencies.
"Our network of support is extensive and we remain available as a resource to anyone needing access to that network of support," Duenas said.
At Flex School, students talked about prescription drug abuse in class, said Flex School Principal Karen Wessel. Adams did not attend Flex, but students there knew him. Wessel planned to have counselors this week from The Center be available to talk to students. In one class, students were going to research energy drinks, but instead shifted their attention to the effects of drugs like Valium, OxyCodone and OxyContin.
"As a school, we can do more to educate kids about what this is," Wessel said of prescription drug abuse. "It's too late for this student, but perhaps it can help other students. That's all you can hope for."
Prescription drug abuse has been on the Kenai Peninsula for at least 10 years, said Tess Dally, a mental health clinician and substance abuse counselor who has a private practice. Two years ago with Woodworth's death, the community focused on meth. Morphine abuse is related to meth. Meth addicts take morphine to deal with the pain from coming off of meth, Dally said.
Morphine and OxyContin are legitimate drugs used to treat chronic and extreme pain. Doctors aren't prescribing pain medication irresponsibly, Dally said. When OxyContin abuse became a problem, Kenai Peninsula doctors started communicating with each other to make sure patients didn't go to multiple doctors to get more prescriptions.
"I don't think they're (doctors) dispensing drugs irresponsibly," Dally said. "The people who are accessing drugs either illegally or legally and then dispensing them and selling them, giving them to youth -- those are the irresponsible and liable people."
In the case of Adams and the other two boys who abused drugs, troopers said they believe the boys broke into a locked room of a grandfather of one of the boys and stole his prescription medicine.
One issue with Adams' death is that troopers allege the boys weren't honest about taking drugs or getting a friend help. A 15-year-old boy overdosed the night before Adams died, and his friends told emergency medical technicians and troopers that the boy had an allergic reaction to peanuts. When the boy came to and told EMTs he'd taken drugs, Adams and the other boy fled from the hospital.
Youth need to know saving lives is more important than not getting in trouble, Coleman said.
"We have to get to the point where we're willing to risk a friendship to save a life," she said. "There's no if's and-or but's about it. Save the life. It's not about punishment. (Death's) final. We can deal with anything this side of the dirt."
Dally said kids she's talked to won't call for help through 911 or the hospital.
"Kids have told me, 'Right, I'm going to call the ER?'" she said.
Kids can call the Haven House confidential 24-hour crisis hotline at 235-8943, Dally and Coleman said. That's a staffed hotline where anyone can get help with a crisis. Coleman said if it's a medical emergency, counselors will tell the caller to get emergency help and will try to get the caller's location and other details.
"A lot of times, it's walking people through what resources are available to them," Coleman said.
The Child Advocacy Coalition of Homer has been working on solutions to problems young people face in Homer. CACH brings together local social service agencies to coordinate services for youth and fill in gaps in services. There often is a crossover with problems. Families experiencing domestic violence often also have substance abuse issues. Teenage drug abusers also are sometimes homeless.
One long-talked about solution is a youth resource center. Foecke said Kachemak Family Planning Clinic, where she works as a health educator and trainer, recently bought a building it plans to turn into a youth resource center. The center will include after-school programs, discussion groups, training and support groups.
"The goal of it is to be a safe place for young people to come, to talk, to access resources and connect with each other," Foecke said.
CACH also has been building a community response team that can provide support for traumatic events like an accidental death of a young person. Dally and Foecke said the community needs to be aware that young people right now need help grieving, and could suffer longer-lasting emotional trauma.
"When there aren't places to grieve, those issues go underground," Foecke said. "Hopefully that community response team of adults and youth could provide support."
Youth homelessness also is a problem. Many youth are on the streets or couch-surf at friends' homes.
"That would come as a shock to people who don't see that as a reality," Foecke said.
One solution CACH is working on is coming up with a network of safe host homes, with a longer-term goal of a therapeutic youth home or a youth shelter.
In talking about Adams' death and the latest drug tragedy, counselors advised not blaming any of the young people involved.
"More than anything, they need to be embraced right now," Dally said. "They're in a lot of emotional pain. They've lost a friend. They've lost a lot of innocence."
"I feel so incredibly sad for these families," Coleman said. "For the rest of their lives they'll be saying 'What if?'"
At the same time, Homer has to come out of denial and face its drug problem -- and take responsibility, many social workers said.
"Adults have to be responsible and not hide their heads in the sand that kids have access (to drugs) and kids will experiment," Coleman said. "We also have to let kids know this is deadly."
"We also want to correct our own mistakes, and take some responsibility for our own mistakes and our own misuse," Dally said.
"To take the issue that drugs are sexy and non-harmful is bulls---. People die. That's the bottom line," said Coleman.
"Homer's got some pretty sick secrets. We need to get healthy, put a light on it," she added.
CACH plans a community meeting in response to Adams' death in the near future. Kachemak Bay Family Planning Clinic welcomes help with the youth center. To help, call Foecke at 235-3436 or e-mail childadvocacyofhomer@hotmail.com.
Michael Armstrong can be reached at michaelarmstrong.@homernews.com.
|
|
• Advanced Search • Classifieds |
Homer Alaska - Local Stories -
Story last updated at
8:20 PM on
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
City revisits drug problem
BY MICHAEL ARMSTRONG
STAFF WRITER
|
|
|
| E-mail this Story to a friend |
Send a message to the editor |
Have our Headlines sent to you |
