cannabisnews.com: Teen Drug Use Stuns Berkley!





Teen Drug Use Stuns Berkley!
Posted by FoM on February 01, 1999 at 11:17:10 PT

BERKLEY First it was lunchtime pot parties hosted last spring by a freshman. Then this year, a student was expelled for dealing acid. 
  Now, Sarah Plumb, a Berkley High junior with a $200-a-day heroin habit, has been charged with armed robbery, police said.   "You never really started hearing about (drug problems) until this year," Berkley sophomore Annie Panozzo said. "I think it did happen before -- it's just coming out now."   Students were surprised to learn their classmate was addicted to heroin, which they said is not widely used in the school. But they said alcohol and marijuana are widely used.   "A lot of drinkers, a lot of smokers," said Mike Grunow, a 10th-grader.   All the talk of drugs in the school district has upset some parents. Panozzo said she's heard parents talking about transferring kids out of the district because of drugs.   The district began a program two years ago called SAFE or Student Assistance Family Educators. Social workers are in each school to help kids and families with any personal problems, including substance abuse.   "All school districts are dealing with substance abuse issues. I think it's a problem, but it's a problem everywhere," said Tresa Zumsteg, deputy superintendent for the district.   School officials said they have not found students using drugs in school or during school, but they still incorporate substance abuse prevention in the curriculum from kindergarten through 12th-grade.   "I think substance abuse prevention education is a joint responsibility -- the community, the home and the school," said Gwen Ahearn, a spokeswoman for the district. "Because we all live in this society, we all need to take some responsibility for educating people about the dangers."   Parent Marsha Swayze hopes the recent incidents will highlight prevention in the schools.   "I think all parents are nervous with kids in high school," said Swayze, who has a child in ninth grade at Berkley High. "If you're not nervous, there's a problem. Whenever you see something like this, it always heightens it."   Students suspect Plumb was doing heroin with older people who were not students at the high school. They did not know anyone else at the school using heroin. 
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