Michigan State Police help parents prevent drug abuse

By P.J. GLISSON

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Ironwood - It's no longer uncommon to see local or regional news reports in relation to drug sales and related arrests or even casualties of substance abuse.

Hence, members of Michigan State Police Post 86 in Wakefield are working to inform the public on the dangers behind these trends.

"Hidden in Plain Sight" is the name of a current MSP drug exhibit that was on display at last weekend's Festival Ironwood.

Aimed mainly at adults, the exhibit showed parents how their adolescents might stash drug paraphernalia in ways that are not at first recognizable.

"We present certain items that may not appear to be related to drugs but are," said Sgt. John Kelly of MSP.

Helping him to man the table were Kristy Recla, from MSP's administration, and Erin Ross of Michigan State University's Gogebic County Extension Office in Bessemer.

Kelly said this geographical area includes a number of different issues relating to drug use.

He claimed that marijuana continues to be a problem, but added, "There's been an uptick of psilocybin mushrooms (known casually as 'magic mushrooms')."

The drug Fentanyl, which is used in the medical world as a tightly controlled prescription for relief of extreme pain, also is an issue here.

"Oh yeah - absolutely," said Kelly of the local presence of Fentanyl.

He said that crystal methamphetamine and heroin also are in local use.

Moreover, he said there are times when "the heroin isn't really heroin - it's Fentanyl."

Unfortunately, he said, some people - including kids on social media - also purchase drugs online without realizing that they are not necessarily getting what they ordered.

"What they think they're buying are pharmaceuticals," he said of drugs such as Oxycodone, whereas national drug officials report that illegal drug sales done online or on the streets often now are laced with Fentanyl or even are purely Fentanyl.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration reports that Fentanyl is similar to morphine but "about 100 times more potent."

According to the DEA, "Illicit Fentanyl, primarily manufactured in foreign clandestine labs and smuggled into the United States through Mexico, is being distributed across the country and sold on the illegal drug market.  Fentanyl is being mixed in with other illicit drugs to increase the potency of the drug, sold as powders and nasal sprays and increasingly pressed into pills made to look like legitimate prescription opioids."

The DEA states that counterfeit pills are designed to look like Oxycodone (Oxycontin or Percocet), Hydrocodone (Vicodin), Alprazolam (Xanax) or stimulants such as Adderall.

The national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that synthetic opioids such as Fentanyl "are the primary driver of overdose deaths in the United States."

The CDC notes that, between Jan. 31 of 2020 and 2021, overdose deaths from opioids rose 38.1%, and overdose deaths from synthetic opioids ("primarily illicitly manufactured Fentanyl") rose 55.6%.

Meanwhile, the National Institute on Drug Use informs that, although adolescents more commonly abuse alcohol and tobacco, followed by marijuana, other drug abuse depends on kids' ages.

The NIH states that younger adolescents "favor" inhalants (household cleaners, glue or pens) while older adolescents go for synthetic marijuana ("K2" or "Spice") and prescription medications such as those earlier noted.

The first reason kids use drugs, according to the NIH is "to fit in," and the last reason it notes is the "thrill" of experimentation. In between, it cites three more reasons: "to feel good" (get high for pleasure), "to feel better" (to combat depression, stress or physical pain) or "to do better" (to use stimulants in hopes of enhancing performance, whether physically, academically or socially).

With the goal of combating drug use, the Michigan State Police adopted the national Angel Program in 2016 in Gaylord, and Michigan was the first state to enact the program statewide in all 30 MSP posts by 2017.

The program - in which MSP and other community forces, including volunteers, work together - "allows any person who enters a MSP post and requests help with his or her addiction to be screened for potential participation without fear of being arrested for their drug/alcohol use or current possession."

At the MSP drug exhibit, Kelly emphasized the need for parents to monitor their adolescents.

"I think it's important for parents to be very aware," he said in relation to their children's friends, internet use and general activities.

Among visitors to the MSP booth on the July 15 "Kids' Activity Day" were Bobbi Jo Lawson of Ironwood and her son, Andrew. They talked to the staff, picked up brochures and received an MSP tote bag for Andrew.

Fortunately, Andrew, at age 5, appears safe so far from the influence of substance abuse. Asked what his favorite part of the festival was, he answered without hesitation, "The slide."