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HEROIN HITS HOME by Bonnie Adler

H E RO I N has moved into your neighborhood. You’ve heard whispers on the news but take comfort there are no signs of it in your child’s highly ranked, AP-loving schools. You’ve asked your kids whether anyone is using heroin at school and they reassure you. “The drug scene at school is mostly pot and drinking.” But not them, not their friends. They’re too busy with their homework and sports to get into trou- ble. And you begin to breathe easier. Wake up call: Heroin is now at home in Park Avenue penthouses and NYC and CT’s affluent suburbs. Children as young as 12 and 13 are falling prey to the illegal and deadly drug, which is stronger, cheaper, and more alluring than ever. “People say that heroin went away. It’s never gone anywhere,” says Special Agent Douglas Collier of the New Jersey division of the DEA. “But the user group has changed. The old time heroin user was the guy on the street corner. Now we have kids from the suburbs. But when I talk to parents, they are in denial. The three most danger-

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