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Drugs And The Search For Happiness

Newtown Bee Editorial

Newtown’s astonishing growth in the past 20 years has brought thousands of families to our community in search of happiness. On the surface, it looks like a happy place. It has a Main Street with irresistible charm, a high school acknowledged as one of the best around, and neighborhood after neighborhood of prosperous families. Yet the recurring arrests of heroin users and dealers and, more tragically, drug-related deaths have revealed a side of our changing town that is hard to look at. This week, we are publishing a sobering and unflattering view of Newtown’s substance abuse problems detailed in interviews with two people with an intimate knowledge of the town’s drug scene. While it is a disturbing story, we think it should be required reading for every family.

What we are learning as a community, through such blunt accounts and through the educational efforts of groups like Newtown’s Parent Connection and the Drug Prevention Council, is that wealth, privilege, power, and leisure — the four aces of happiness as defined by our culture — offer little or no protection against the kinds of substance abuse problems we tend to associate with inner cities, poverty, and powerlessness. In fact, the opposite may be true. Among adolescents, affluence may offer as much or more predisposition to substance abuse as it does protection from it.

In talking with the two sources for our story this week, we learned that “status” counts in Newtown when you are growing up. But as a recovering heroin addict and one-time drug dealer put it, “Heroin has no prejudice… it doesn’t care what religion you are or what economic bracket you’re in.” In Newtown, if you don’t excel at sports or your parents are not well off, you are in real social trouble, according to one young woman who has since moved away from town. “Kids will do anything to fit in,” she observed, “and that’s how it starts.” But it is not only the misfits who get in over their heads. “My best customers were the preppy, rich kids,” the ex-dealer told us.

The young people in Newtown who have fallen into the grip of drug and alcohol abuse and addiction are the leading indicators of an equally serious problem — faltering families. The three key risk factors for adolescent substance abuse, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, are chaotic home environments, ineffective parenting, and the lack of mutual attachments or nurturing. As many parents know, life with adolescents is practically the definition of a chaotic home environment. Overcoming these risk factors is easier said than done. Understanding this, the Newtown Prevention Council is trying to provide Newtown parents with the information and support they need by creating an “action plan” to coordinate local efforts and to establish a network to disseminate preventative and treatment information. The effort requires the entire community’s support. This is not a wake-up call. The time to wake up was 20 years ago. This is an emergency alarm.

In the meantime, parents who are busy shuffling the deck in search of those four aces of happiness need to stop, look up, and reach a hand out to their kids — that will be the winning hand that ultimately brings them happiness.

Used with permission Copyright © 1999-2004 Bee Publishing Company

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Phone 

203-270-1600

 

Email 

Info@NewtownParentConnection.org

Address
2 Washington Square
Fairfield Hills
Newtown, CT 06470

Mission Statement

 

Our mission is to embrace families in crisis and to educate and empower the community in the prevention of substance use

Narcotics Anonymous- 1-800-627-3543

www.ctna.org

Alcoholics Anonymous-866-783-7712

www.ct-aa.org

AL-Anon/Alateen 888-425-2666

www.ctalanon.org

Image of Nicole Hampton Executive Director

Nicole Hampton

Executive Director

Nicole Hampton, a Certified Peer Recovery Specialist, brings years of experience and dedication to addiction recovery. Her journey began with volunteer work at CCAR, leading to a successful career across multiple treatment settings and active involvement in state and local boards.

A woman in recovery, Nicole is a dynamic leader known for fostering collaboration, inspiring change, and implementing effective solutions. Under her leadership, Parent Connection will expand its reach, providing vital support and hope to individuals and families affected by addiction.

Our Board of Directors is a committed body of volunteers who support our mission to keep our community safe and substance free.

Nicole Hampton - Executive Director

Gene Vetrano-President 

Ken Rodbell- Vice President

Frank Crudo- Treasurer

Kevin Carolan -Secretary

Maggie Conway

David Cooper

Kathleen Moonan

Matt Briand

Lil Martenson
Dan Rosenthal

Support Groups

Hope & Support

A weekly gathering for parents and caregivers with children or loved one's affected by substance use.  This group provides a confidential venue to receive information and support concerning how to handle their child's or loved one's suspected or confirmed use of substances. Facilitated by an experienced drug & alcohol counselor.

Meeting Information Here

Bereavement
A compassionate venue for those

who have lost a child or other loved one due to catastrophic circumstances. The group is facilitated by a licensed therapist.
Meeting Information Here


First Wednesday of the month.
7:00 to 8:30 pm

Image of Parent Connection Founder Dorrie Carolan

Dorrie Carolan Founder

Dorrie Carolan and her husband raised their four children in Newtown, CT. Starting the Parent Connection was never part of her plan. The issue of substance use became personal when her eldest son, Brian, became addicted and subsequently died at age 28 of a prescription drug overdose. Through the struggles caused by Brian's addiction, Dorrie became aware that this was an issue that affected many others in the community. She founded the Parent Connection in 1993 in an attempt to network with other concerned Newtown parents. It was the impetus behind many policy changes in town and within the schools.

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