By Adam Malmut
The program was titled "Substance Abuse: Not in my house, family, school, or community." During the opening hour of the event, the school hosted a meet-and-greet session as parents and students enjoyed music and food provided by students. Also present were representatives from Tempo group and Friends of Bridge, two organizations that assist families hurt by drug and alcohol addiction problems.
The room was covered wall-to-wall with student-made posters designed to inform visitors of the variety of drug substances that are available on the streets of Nassau County. Tony Spezio, President of Central/Memorial PTSA, said he hopes the event is the first of many to be hosted in the district.
"We're hoping to do a continuing series [of these events]," Spezio said. "We want to spread the word to the community, not just the schools. This is a horrible disease and we want to help people. This is a difficult problem, because as parents, the question becomes, where can you go for help?"
During the main part of the program in the school auditorium, Dr. Stephen Dewey of the Brookhaven National Lab touched upon the most popularly used addictive drugs and the affects they have on people. Dewey said that the key to understanding addiction is to realize that addiction is a brain disease. "Every drug of abuse uses the dopamine in our brains," said Dewey. "Dopamine is a brain chemical that triggers the feeling of happiness.
"For example," Dewey continued, "if my son does well on a math test, his dopamine levels increase by 10 percent. With one hit of methamphetamine, the dopamine levels of the drug user go up by 700,000 percent."
Methamphetamine, which Dewey says is the most addictive drug he has ever seen, leads to a laundry list of health problems ranging from extreme weight loss to loss of teeth, a condition otherwise known as Meth mouth. "Meth comes in different colors and it is easier to make than chocolate chip cookies," said Dewey. "I've never seen a meth addict that doesn't have some symptoms of Parkinson's disease."
Dewey said that he and his organization have taken large strides in addictive drug research and credits their success to the invention of PET scan technology. "With PET scanning, if you have a thought, we can now see where that thought is stored," said Dewey. "With these machines we've looked at the brain activity in kids and adults."
Dewey continued to speak about several drugs including nicotine, marijuana, alcohol, cocaine and a drug recently linked to a street boom in Nassau County -- heroin. For each drug, Dewey would show the audience PET scan pictures and added commentary about the addictiveness and repercussions of using the individual substances.
The second speaker of the program was Nora Ammirati, coordinator of the Drug Treatment Alternative to Prison program in Nassau County. Ammirati's presentation began and ended with the reading of a letter -- a letter she wrote to her son Philip, an incarcerated heroin addict. After she read the tough-love themed letter to the audience, Ammirati added that there had been 40 opiate-related death's in Nassau County this year.
"There is a heroin epidemic in Nassau County," said Ammirati. "Heroin is here and it's all over. It's cheap, easily accessible, and usually sold in small bags that drug dealers mark with stamps and logos. We all have to start taking the initiative to put this problem to rest before it's too late."
After the presentation, District Director of Guidance Jill Vogel said that the evening was just the beginning of the efforts needed to help children with these issues. "I hope the community has been alerted to the dangers of substance abuse and takes this seriously," Vogel said. "Now hopefully the community will know some new faces we can turn to for help."
