CASPAR director:Heroin use on the rise

By Erin Souza

Heroin use is on the rise in Somerville because it is stronger, less expensive and easily available compared to other substances, said Cambridge and Somerville Program for Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Rehabilitation (CASPAR) Executive Director Gail Enman at the Somerville News contributors meeting on Sept. 20.

“[Heroin] is cheaper than a pack of cigarettes,” she said. “It’s cheaper than a six-pack of beer.”

Heroin addiction was the second most abused substance of the 2,800 people admitted to abuse treatment facilities in Cambridge and Somerville in 2004, the most recent year for which data is available, according to statistics produced by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

Enman said the public’s perception of a typical heroin user is inaccurate. She said the average client served by CASPAR is not homeless or unemployed, but is an “intelligent, accomplished” white man under the age of forty.

“This is not a homeless problem, it is a social problem,” she said of the heroin’s recent resurgence in the city. “This is not a phenomenon that is exclusive to homeless populations,” she said.

Enman described a clean needle exchange program run by CASPAR in conjunction with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she saw firsthand that the “stereotypes about who is using this drug are really off,” as an 18-year-old man sought a needle, she said. “This is a kid that could have been my son that I could have been tucking into bed at night” she said. “He looked like everybody else.”

She said CASPAR has helped people with drug and alcohol problems go onto attorney, small business owners and city officials.

Enman said she started at CASPAR because she believed in its mission of serving people who are typically underserved. “As a personal journey, I thought I could make a difference for this organization,” said Enman, a former teacher and researcher who served on CASPAR’s board of directors for three years before taking her current post.

CASPAR started in 1970 as a community response to what Enman called a phenomenon of emergency rooms being “overridden with alcoholic men,” it has since become a haven for both men and women battling drug and alcohol addiction, and it is comprised of 12 programs, including residential group homes and drop-in centers serving 5,000 people annually, according to their own statistics.

Enman touted CASPAR’s unique place among other shelters in Cambridge and Somerville, as the group operates a homeless shelter for people who are unable or unwilling to give up their alcohol or drug use, as all other shelters in the area require sobriety. “This remains the only place where homeless, drug-addicted men and women are welcome,” Enman said.

CASPAR started as a public hospital service for low-income patients, newly immigrated families and people without insurance and remains a non-profit, joint venture between staff, volunteers and students, hosting programs funded by a $4,000,000 annual budget. 

In addition to its blend of city, state and federal monies, including a community development block grant provided by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, CASPAR supplements its budget with fundraisers, such as its upcoming third annual “Gimme Shelter” campaign in Somerville and Cambridge.

Comments

[Mary]

I think it's great, the effort these people put into this program! Clean up our community!

[Election]

They should tax heroine.

[Old Somerviller]

What I appreciate most is their emphasis on treatment. It's a much better community response than just locking people up. Of course, maybe if the users were really all the "stereotypical" users -- homeless, minority, etc. -- maybe it would be the case. Still, good work CASPAR.

[addictsmom]

Heroin addicts can't get the treatment they need, not enough beds available, not enough strong programs for after detox. We need help!! Somerville's teens are becoming addicted to heroin at younger age. It's an epidemic. WE NEED HELP FOR OUR CHILDREN!!!

[clean cities]

They should be sent to forced labor for a few years. Have them learn the hard way. Only way, really. All this detox BS, does not work.

[Gina white]

I love the fact that there is people in this world that recognizes the need for cervices for the underserve regardless of their desition making.not every one wants to get clean and that doesn't make them less than but some one that is in pain and who are we to judge the out come of it.

[Election]

It seems to me that those who want to be on drugs have the right to do so. But they cannot demand the rest of us to take care of them. They made a choice, the effects of drugs such as heroin are known, they have to stick with the results.

[Mom]

I agree with 'addictsmom'. Someone needs to do something about this epidemic of substance abuse. The city is completely ignoring this issue, and doing nothing to help the people who are trying to deal with it. It's about time this city and our elected officials stopped talking about stupid things like unenforceable trash guidelines and started worrying about saving a whole generation of young people!

[SomersTime]

If there were more well-staffed youth centers in this city, it would help kids turn away from drugs!

Ask your local alderman what he/she is doing to help set up badly-needed youth centers.

"A politician thinks of the next election. A statesman (sic) thinks of the next generation."

[Addictsmon]

To Election, I hope that you never have to deal with anyone in your family having an addiction to heroin. Even the best families in Somerville are dealing with this. Our young people are dying by the droves and nothing is being done about it. They may start out want to get high but in the end it is what it is, an addiction!! They need help!!

[Election]

I know. Forced labor for a couple of years IS the help they should get. Give something back to society while we have to pay for their stupid decisions.

[Frustrated]

We have an unregistered "sober house" on Wilton Street and now drug dealing is going on there as well. How can this be stopped?

[Addictsmon]

There aren't enough programs to help the City of Somerville's youth with this program. People just can't accept that it is a big problem in Somerville. Let's get together and save them instead of alienating them. I think that they are worth saving, don't you???

[Richard]

Fortunately there is still a great deal of hope if parents are able to get the troubled teen the appropriate intervention. This will require a strong determination for the parent of a troubled teen not to waiver under the teens desires or promises to quit his or her drug and/or alcohol use. It may be prudent to seek out information about helping your troubled teen get the professional help they need for their drug and or alcohol abuse.

[Drug Rehabs]

Illegal drugs are the main cause of addiction in youth people. But people of age group 35+ are addicted mostly to legal or prescription drugs. The results of prescription drug addiction can be as fatal as illegal drug addiction.

[nayan]

Day treatment programs offer various essential therapies. The therapies are psychological, educational and experimental. day treatment programs for youths are made to enhance e the self esteem, confidence and reliability as well as inter personal relation ship and social life.

[TeenageProblems]

Troubled teen alcohol addictionis very real problem of teens. Alcohol addiction causes physical dependence. It not only destroys the life of addicted individual but also his/ her surrounding people, friends and family members. Treatment centers are helpful in alcohol addiction recovery.
http://www.teenageproblems.net/

[teenagers01]

The Christian boarding school is a right place for today troubled teens that offer religious based education in a good learning environment. The school is like another home for troubled teenagers in which they can get full support and care from faculty and teaching staff.

http://www.troubledteensguide.com/

[teen alcohol treatment]

I think its better to create a law that prohibits or limit the usage of heroin in the said country. To prevent the abuse of using heroin. Thanks for the post.

-mj-

[heroin addiction treatment]

Heroin, or diacetylmorphine, also known as diamorphine, is a semi-synthetic opioid drug synthesized from morphine, a derivative of the opium poppy. It is the 3,6-diacetyl ester of morphine hence diacetylmorphine. The white crystalline form is commonly the hydrochloride salt diacetylmorphine hydrochloride, however heroin freebase may also appear as a white powder.

-jomie-