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Editorial: A 'World Wide' thing comes home to roost
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July 29, 2009 | 03:20 PM
On the surface, it might seem like relief and reassurance that more than 100 people — predominantly Suffolk County residents — have been apprehended this week in connection to a heroin dealing ring, following a "major" drug bust this past March in which only 10 Long Islanders were implicated.
Of the most recent arrests and confiscation of contraband — chiefly, sleeves of heroin, weapons and syringes — County Executive Steve Levy stated, "This far-reaching, successful probe is an example of how we are applying Suffolk police personnel to most effectively protect our residents and families."
While we're glad to see that, don't get too comfortable. We don't feel secure that the scourge has lifted and we don't think you should either.
Yes, authorities are finally picking up the pace in developing and responding to intelligence of drug dealing on Long Island. But, while it's automatic to expect government to crack down on nefarious activity and vindicating to condemn the drug dealer and user, it's also easy to overlook the most vulnerable customers — teenagers and even preteens who are habituated if not addicted to the injectable, snortable illegal substances. Dealers have made it alarmingly cheap to get heroin anywhere, whether that be in school or on the streets. In light of the recent arrests, what of their young victims? They are still hooked. But would you know it?
We're not talking about teens in those "other" communities. We're talking about the ones right here along the North Shore, from bucolic Ridge, charming Port Jefferson, sophisticated Stony Brook all the way west to New Englandy Northport and happening Huntington.
Take one look at where many drug arrests were made in Nassau and Suffolk counties, and you'll understand how it's become typical for high schoolers like 18-year-old Plainedge honor student Natalie Ciappa, who fatally overdosed on heroin last June, to routinely encounter the stuff.
While a drug-free zone sign outside your elementary school might mean your community doesn't tolerate illicit substance use and abuse when it's found, that doesn't mean it's not happening right under your nose — perhaps out of one of those plastic packets printed with the benign-looking words "World Wide" that Suffolk officials seized. It's a tough subject, but it's worth broaching with your kids. Do you know what they're doing? Who they're with? What temptations confront them on the playground?
Don't assume it won't be your child who's buying and using heroin, to echo the wisdom of Natalie Ciappa's mother, Doreen, who last year told Associated Press this of the parents who sought to console her in her grief: "They look at their good, healthy, beautiful kid and they feel secure. I don't want them to feel secure."
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