By Agnes CONSTANTE

Sex and drugs among teenagers have always been areas of concern for parents, and some wonder if social networks, like Facebook, have exacerbated these problems.

In an effort to address these issues, the Crescenta Valley Drug and Alcohol Prevention Coalition held a seminar on Tuesday, “Sex, Drugs, and Social Networking,” at Verdugo Hills Hospital.

“Sex and drugs are not something that today’s society, especially amongst our youngsters, necessarily go and search for,” said Sgt. Tom Lorenz, public information officer of the Glendale Police Department. “It’s what our kids end up getting bombarded with because it comes to them.”

Lorenz said that because members of Generation Z, which consist of today’s teenagers, are the heaviest Internet users, they easily obtain a lot of information online. He also said that those with “smart phones” have more instant and convenient access to the web.

The role of social networking websites, particularly Facebook, have played out negatively on the Generation Z. In many cases because adolescents are able to falsify their identities and because information put in cyberspace remains there indefinitely.

“What we have to [tell] our kids is that what you do today and you put on the web today will catch up with you 15 or 20 years later because it will never ever go away,” said Lorenz.

However, Lorenz acknowledged that networking sites and online exchanges also have benefits. Two of those mentioned are that people are able to meet their lifelong partners online and that the FBI can track IP addresses in cases when necessary.

Another issue raised was the prominence media places on celebrities, prominent people who are usually role models of children, and many of who often engage in drug behavior. Lorenz cited how Hollywood personalities managed to garner millions of followers just shortly after setting up Twitter accounts and how one celebrity’s infamous bong video was followed by an increase in sales of salvia, the hallucinogenic drug she smoked.

While illicit drugs pose a threat to the well being of young adults, Lorenz said over-the-counter drugs have become an even bigger problem. By overdosing on common medicine, such as cough syrup, adolescents can experience a high they would get from illicit substances. Lorenz added the spread of this knowledge to many people is made possible through social network sites.

Although sex and drugs among teenagers are obstacles facing many parents, the coalition encourages parents to take advantage of support classes and other services it offers to help in dealing with these situations.

“At the foundation of every class that we talk about is communication and the relationship with your teen,” said Susan Dubin, secretary of the coalition. “Because no matter what kind of risky behavior your kid may experience, it’s about how you and the teen communicate.”

The presentation provided useful insight for many parents, including Seta Haig who has a child attending Rosemont Middle School.

“I think [the seminar] gave a lot of … information that a lot of parents don’t know about, about how social media works and its dangers and benefits to some degrees,” she said.

Following the presentation Haig said she intends to participate in the drug and alcohol prevention group.

More information on the coalition can be found at www.cvdapc.org.

By Mary O’KEEFE

The CV Drug and Alcohol Prevention Coalition will present a seminar titled “Sex, Drugs and Social Networking” on Tuesday at the Verdugo Hills Hospital Community Room at 6:30 p.m. The special guest speaker will be Glendale Police Sgt. Tom Lorenz.

“The youth have mastered networking tools and most parents are unaware of what [this means],” said David Marquez, executive director of the Coalition.

He added that even if parents have the passwords for their kid’s Internet accounts kids seem to always be one step ahead.

“Through this [type of networking] they can learn about parties, drugs and emerging new drugs,” Marquez said.

The night will cover many new trends in drugs and sex via the Internet and texting.

“Even with tools provided by the phone carrier to help monitor your kid’s phone activity, when it comes to texting we are still blind,” Marquez said.

Lorenz said he recently read about a nearby city where officials were surprised at a sudden increase in heroin use in their community. There had been four overdose deaths and they were seeing 13, 14 and 15 year olds addicted to heroin. He said it shouldn’t be a surprise if officials have their eyes wide open as to what the trends are in their community.

“See what the trends are with kids – what they are doing and their knowledge on sex and relationships in addition to drugs,” he said.

Kids are being educated in these subjects so much faster than other generations because of the social media.

“They are not going to their parents on social matters of sex and drugs, they are talking about it on the web,” he said. “We have left Generation X and are now calling them Generation Z. These kids are empowered by social media.”

He added that “sexting,” the act of sending sexually explicit messages or photos via cellphones, is something teens have learned through social networking. In addition to their own generation sexting, they see examples like Rep. Anthony Weiner (D) who has been in the news due to sexting many women. Kids see this and, where it may shock and anger their parents, it is commonplace among their generation.

“The worst part about [sexting] is [the kids] don’t realize the consequences if they are caught by a parent. If they were to text a body part of a [juvenile] to a friend and it spread through school [and] it got reported by a parent, [law enforcement] would investigate. It is a felony to send a picture of a minor (even if the minor is the sender). Under that statute you would have to register as a sex [offender] for the rest of your life,” Lorenz said.

In addition to sex, the new drugs are easy to find by social networking. The names of drugs are constantly changing and those that market the drugs are using social networks to advertise their product. Many of the new synthetic drugs are not detected with drug testing kits and all of this information is available just by logging on.

The discussion will cover these topics and will let community members know what programs are in the area to help kids and adults.

“It is old fashioned parenting meets modern technology,” Marquez said.

By Brandon HENSLEY

Last Saturday people from all over the Crescenta Valley participated in a National Take-Back Initiative of disposing unused or expired prescription drugs.
Two local sites, the CV Sheriff’s Station and CVS Pharmacy on Verdugo Road, were set up and from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. with boxes available to dispose of the drugs.
The event, which is done every six months and began last year for the foothill area, is sponsored by the Drug Enforcement Agency.
Members of Glendale Police Department and the CV Alcohol and Drug Prevention Coalition were at the CVS site and by all accounts, it was a successful day: over 150 pounds of drugs were collected.
The reasoning for holding events like these is simple, according to Glendale officer Joe Allen.
“There’s an alarming trend of pharmaceuticals being abused to substitute for illicit drugs, so by helping to remove some of these unused and expired medication from people’s shelves it helps minimize that abuse or misuse of it,” he said.
Allen also mentioned the dangers of accidental overdosing by young children if they get their hands on it.
According to the DEA, prescription drug abuse is also the second most abused drug for teenagers behind marijuana.
DEA agent Connie Gerten, who was at the CVS site, said the event is needed so drugs don’t wind up in the wrong hands.
“I think people just didn’t have a place to put it and didn’t know what to do with and they stockpiled it,” she said.
“You don’t know what something is, you want to get rid of it … it’s all going to be completely destroyed,” said Melinda Clarke, executive director of the Montrose-Verdugo City Chamber of Commerce, who is also part of the Coalition.
Clarke has a daughter at Rosemont Middle School and said she is aware of the drug problems around the area that don’t just start at CV High School, but can start in jr. high. Clarke said the Coalition’s existence is important to spread the word early.
“Other moms whose kids are going there, I don’t even think they know the Coalition exists, so that’s one thing we want to try and work on is getting [the word] out there that there are resources, there is information, there’s help and support,” she said.
“I was actually talking to officer Allen and he said the reason that people get caught [at Rosemont] is that we’ve taught teachers and educators to look for signs who are able to get more and they’ve actually been able to get rid of a lot [drugs] because of that. They can spot it and find out who they’re getting it from,” Clarke said.
During the day, a woman walked by simply wanting to know more about the take-back initiative, and ended up learning that disposing of drugs down the toilet – something she had done – is not the right thing to do because of the harmful effects of the environment.
Allen said many people walked by the booth, learned what the day was about and went home and gathered up their unwanted prescription drugs, which were to be taken to a facility in Long Beach.
People can drop off prescription drugs at the CV Sheriff’s Station any time or day of the week, and on Saturdays in Glendale.
“The city of Glendale does accept medication all Saturdays at a disposal down at the Environmental Management Center at 780 Flower Street,” Allen said.

By Mary O’KEEFE

Recently the Crescenta Valley Weekly was invited to the main office of Action, a parent and teen support program that helps kids and adults with rehabilitation from drugs and alcohol.

“We get many calls [for assistance] here,” said Cary Quashen, director and founder of Action. “The first thing we do is evaluate the level of crisis.”

The crisis can be as new as a parent just finding out their child has been smoking marijuana to someone who has been using drugs or abusing alcohol for years.

The treatment adjusts to the level of crisis. There are kids who go to a support group once a week or they could be sent to more intensive therapy depending on their level of need.

“We have long term or short term residential care,” Quashen said.

Action’s facility in Santa Clarita consists of two quiet acreages. Kids reside on one side of the street. Trees surround the homes, with the main home having an inviting front porch. Across the street, at the adult facility, the Spanish-style home has a large kitchen where meals are prepared by an expert chef.

The setting is quiet and calming which is in contrast to the turmoil many of its residents are going through. Drug and alcohol addiction is all-consuming and is not easy to overcome. Speaking with some of the residents it is obvious most were there because they knew if they didn’t do something they would not survive.

Quashen has been doing this type of rehabilitation for almost 30 years. He has seen the fads of drugs ebb and flow but it always comes back to the choices people make.

“People say every kid experiments [with alcohol and drugs]. I don’t buy that,” Quashen said.

An experiment is you take a hit [of a drug] and you say I like it or I don’t but you don’t keep doing it, he said.

“I have parents that say it’s only recreational and it’s a phase. What the [heck] does that mean? I was talking to a mom who said, ‘My kids are experimenting.’ I asked with what. She said, ‘Meth [methamphetamines] and alcohol.’ I asked how long. ‘Oh about a year,’ she said. Really? And you are not getting the message?” Quashen said.

He said the woman’s daughter is not experimenting – she is addicted.

Law enforcement in the foothill area has said drug of choice will come and go but marijuana is still prevalent.

“The biggest thing I have seen over the years is how much stronger the drugs are. Marijuana is [much stronger] than 10 years ago. In the last couple of years, for the first time we are admitting adolescents and adults for marijuana dependency,” he said.

Another abusive trend Quashen has been seeing is prescription drug use.

The biggest thing we are treating for today are more accidental drug addicts,” he said.

No one plans on being a drug addict however when someone uses heroin they more than likely know they can become addicted. Prescription drugs, however, can be a progressive addiction.

“So many people are going to the doctor with legitimate pain complaints. They get muscle relaxers and pain medication. Those medications are stronger then they have ever been. The go to the doctor to get them but then get hooked. We have seen kids that are using anywhere from six pills to 30 pills a day,” he said.

The center has also detoxed more adolescents in the last two years for this type of addiction than in the last 28 years.

Quahsen is also treating more younger career people who are addicted to smoking heroin. He can trace that addiction back to prescription pills.

“They are getting their prescription pills and building a tolerance. Most doctors won’t increase the dosage so they begin doctor hopping. And when that is not working they hit the street and buy them from sellers but that can get really expensive. So they find that if they smoke a little bit of heroin they get the same effect and the price is cheaper,” he said.

The problem is the people find themselves addicted to heroin and end up at a rehabilitation center, if they are lucky.

“Parents need to be educated about prescription drugs. They are their kids supplier and they don’t even realize it,” he said.

The kids have prescription drug parties when they will steal or somehow obtain medication. They put them all together in a bowl and kids take whatever they pick up.

“We get calls all the time on our hotline, ‘We don’t know what he took,’” Quashen said.

In fact Quashen said he is hearing of problems from realtors who will have an open house only to find drugs stolen from medicine cabinets.

“Even if you trust your child you don’t know who they are bringing into your home. Lock your drugs up,” he urged.

It is not just prescription medication but over the counter drugs, too, like cough syrup.

“Parents need to get between their kids and their behavior and not sweep it under the carpet,” he said.

Crescenta Valley Drug and Alcohol Prevention Coalition is joining with Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station, Glendale Police Department and agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration with that agency’s National Take Back initiative.

On April 30, Glendale police will be at CVS Pharmacy at 2037 Verdugo Blvd. in Montrose to collect out of date or unwanted prescription drugs. CV Sheriff’s Station has had receptacles for over a year at their station to receive medication as well as receptacles for marijuana and hypodermic needles. The station is located at 4554 Briggs Ave. in La Crescenta. People are encouraged to go through their medicine cabinet and get rid of drugs no longer needed. It is dangerous to the environment to flush them into the sewer, and not safe to have them around the house. This is an opportunity to get rid of the drugs safely.

“There will be no questions asked,” said David Marquez, executive director of the Coalition.

Quashen added that education is the best tool in preventing a child from becoming addicted.

“When our kids are babies we lock everything up and make everything safe. We need to continue to do that,” he said.

“Medication should be secured in the household,” said Glendale Officer Joe Allen in an earlier interview. “It should be monitored and accounted for especially after a sleep over.”

Quashen said there are things that can be done to make children safe.

“Parents call us for help whenever they find out there is something wrong. Can you overreact when you find out your kid is using drugs? I don’t think so.”

For information on Action visit them online at www.actionfamily.org or call (800) 367-8336. For information on the drug drop off visit www.cvyouthsupport.com.

By Mary O’KEEFE

Deputies from Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station arrested three suspects after finding tools commonly used in burglaries, stolen property and drugs.

At 2:50 p.m. on Saturday, deputies responded to a call at Briggs and Olive avenues about three males in a vehicle that may have been stolen.

The three, Ian Kuh, 18, of Sunland, James Martin, 18, of La Crescenta and a 17-year-old boy also from La Crescenta were found on Rosemont Avenue and Rockdell Street.

It appeared that Kuh was under the influence of a controlled substance, said Sgt. Ray Harley.

After an investigation, deputies discovered a black bag with several tools typically used in burglaries.

“They found a bag that contained burglary tools and some [allegedly] stolen property,” Harley said. “Some markings on some of the items led [investigators] to a victim in Los Angeles that said his home had been burglarized.”

Deputies also allegedly found Martin and Kuh in possession of drugs.

Kuh was arrested on being under the influence of a controlled substance, possessing burglary tools and receiving stolen property. Martin was arrested on possession of methamphetamine and concentrated cannabis, possession of burglary tools and receiving stolen property. The juvenile was arrested for being in possession of burglary tools and receiving stolen property.

Deputies also discovered ammunition in a small bag, but no guns were found.

(Concentrated cannabis means the separated resin, whether in crude or purified form, from the cannabis
plant.)

By Mary O’KEEFE

Glendale Police are partnering with Glendale Fire and public Works departments to conduct a temporary prescription drug drop off in the city’s municipal parking lot at Honolulu Avenue and Wickham Way in Montrose on Saturday, Nov. 20.

“It will be a drive-thru and drop off for medication for the North Command area,” said Lt. Ian Grimes.

Glendale Police has divided the city into specific command areas. Montrose and North Glendale, which includes the Crescenta Valley area, are considered North Command.

Grimes said the drop off will give residents a safe and convenient way of disposing old and unneeded prescription medication.

Grimes added this program is an alternative to flushing the medication into the sewer system or throwing it away where they sit in a landfill both choices bad for the environment.

“It is also a way to get the temptation of the unused drugs out of the home where teenagers may have access,” Grimes added.

According to National Institute on Drug Abuse, in 2008 1.9 million youth, or 7.7%, aged 12 to 17 abused prescription drugs, with 1.6 million abusing a prescription pain medication.

Grimes said having this drop off program will hopefully prompt residents to take a look into their medicine cabinets and clean house.

“This use of prescription drugs with teens is a big thing,” he said. “A lot of stuff comes out of the medicine cabinet.”

The city’s Environmental Management Center at 780 Flower St. in Glendale, 91201 has a drop off center every Wednesday and Saturday from 9 a.m. and 1 p.m.

“But that may not be convenient for those in the North Command area,” Grimes added.

There is a drop off prescription drug drop off receptacle for La Crescenta residents at the Crescenta Valley Sheriff’s Station at 4554 Briggs Ave. At that location are two other mailbox type receptacles; one for used and unwanted hypodermic needles and one for marijuana.

By Jason KUROSU

The fourth annual Passageways Homeless Connect Day was held on Oct. 19 at the Salvation Army facility in Pasadena and each year the turnout increases.

Pacific Clinics, the event planners for Homeless Connect Day, notes on its website that 2009’s event offered 2,900 free services to 405 individuals. Of those numerous services, there were 98 flu shots provided, 73 haircuts, 65 vision tests, 97 dental screenings, 46 mental health screenings, 36 legal services and 750 lunches. This year’s numbers are expected to surpass those of last year.

Health services such as flu shots, HIV and STD testing and dental screenings were held in one building while another building hosted various booths from different nonprofit organizations offering information on topics like transitional housing (or “sober living” as one volunteer described it), drug treatment programs, employment development, social security and others. The services even extended to the parking lot, where vendors urged anyone passing by to take any of the various fruits or water bottles on display as they pleased.

Kitty Galt, who is an outreach specialist with Passageways, has supervised and run the event every year and also ran the event for eight previous years as a resource fair. She usually participates in street outreach, a daily mobile service that encourages the homeless to make use of local services and resources. Homeless Connect Day works in much the same way. It not only offers a variety of resources to the homeless but also does its part by informing them that such services are actually available.

The Homeless Connect Day website speaks on the event’s expectations of providing a variety of services to the homeless, but also to address “many of the barriers to housing.” One of these barriers appears to be a lack of information about the availability of resources and helping hands. It is hoped that the organization of events like Homeless Connect Day will dispel that very barrier.

GUSD and the Crescenta Valley Drug and Alcohol Prevention Coalition (CVDAPC) are sponsoring a confidential support resource to all parents of Rosemont, CV and Clark students during the entire school year. Please join Pam Erdman, licensed marriage, family, and child (teens included)therapist for presentations and discussions on parenting teens. These are one-hour meetings every Tuesday evening (except during school holidays). Several sessions will be conducted at the CV Auditorium but the majority of the sessions will be conducted at the La Canada YMCA. Encourage fellow parents to attend as well. The pre-teen and teenage years are turbulent and this is an opportunity for direct support.

SEPTEMBER

9/7 @ CV Auditorium 7:15 pm Parenting Foundations: Parenting is a great privilege but also can be confusing and aggravating at our first meeting of the school year we will discuss the ONE most important aspect of parenting. When we as parents understand how to build a strong parenting foundation, we will be far less confused and aggravated.

9/14 @ YMCA 7:15 pm Communication with Teens Part 1: Come and hear the three most important aspects of communication between parents and teens. Feeling more confident about your ability to communicate with your pre-teen or teenager can transform the course of your relationship.

9/21 @ YMCA 7:15 pm Communication with Teens Part 2: Some teens talk a lot about their life and experiences, but many stop talking when they hit adolescence. We worry when they are silent, because we don’t know what is happening in their lives. We will explore ways to help our children to be more honest and communicative.

OCTOBER

10/5 @ YMCA 7:15 pm Risky Behavior: Teens are prone to experiment with risky behavior including mentally checking out of school, driving fast and use of drugs and alcohol. We will talk about the ways that this can be positive and the ways that this can be seriously concerning. We will look at the best way to respond to all types of risky behavior.

10/12 @ YMCA 7:15 pm Boundaries with Tech Devices and Social Activities: A teen’s life revolves around cellphones and friends, sometimes to the detriment of all other opportunities. What is the best way to set boundaries for our teens?

10/19 @ YMCA 7:15 pm Respectful Behavior: What is the best response to the outrageous things that teens say, request and do? Sometimes we are angry, confused and reactionary to our kid’s behavior, but we don’t need to be. Come and hear specific new ways to respond.

10/26 @ YMCA 7:15 pm Teen Sexuality: Come and hear how to talk to your teen and the important content every teen needs to hear from parents. This is a tough topic but your teen needs your guidance.

10/21 Thursday @ CVHS PTA Meeting 7:00 pm, Location TBD Surviving the Turbulent Teen Years: When our children become teens, we sometime feel as if they become a different person. We can even wonder who this new person is. While they are growing and changing, they need us to understand them and provide as much stability as possible. We will be talking about how to be stabilizing in the midst of the turbulence of change.

NOVEMBER

11/2 @ YMCA 7:15 pm When Parents Have Different Parenting Styles: Sometimes our biggest struggle as parents is not our child but the adults that are parenting alongside us: spouses, siblings, grandparents, step parents. We as adults don’t agree on how to respond and it makes the tensions of parenting more difficult. We will talk about how to smooth out these challenges.

11/9 @ YMCA 7:15 pm Peer Pressure: Your teen experiences intense peer pressure. We will talk about why it can be so intense and what you can do to support your teen in coping with peer pressure.

11/16 @ YMCA 7:15 pm Communication: Communicating with teens can be tricky, arduous, and explosive. There are communication styles that make dialogue so much more successful. We will be role-playing these techniques, so that you can hear and understand what they are.

11/30 @ CV Auditorium 7:15 pm Surviving the stressful holiday season: Come and hear how to set limits and avoid over scheduling, minimize student unsupervised time and talk to your teen about the dangers of drinking.

Hold the Date: Additional sessions during the first semester will be 12/7, 12/14, 1/11, 1/18, and 1/25. Topics TBD.

If you have suggestions and recommendations please visit the website below.

For more information on these sessions, additional resources and to

see how you can become involved please visit us at

www.cvyouthsupport.com

By Mary O’Keefe

On April 13 the Crescenta Valley Drug and Alcohol Coalition will be holding its second community forum at Verdugo Hills Hospital.

The topics of the forum will include underage drinking and drug parties, teen and pre-teen binge drinking and kid drug use. There will also be a film made by teens and young adults in the area that is an honest and straight forward look at what they are facing in their world.

“The purpose of the forum is to inform and educate parents on these issues,” said Robbyn Battles, member of the coalition and co-chair of the forum.

The coalition began when parents of kids who were in trouble with drugs and battling addiction, as well as others who were simply worried about their children, got together to share stories and get help. Glendale Office Matt Zakarian gathered these parents together, and then brought in community members to help form a proactive organization to face the problems. The coalition has only been in existence for a few months but has reached out to many in the community through meetings and forums like the one on April 13.

Howard Hakes is the president of the coalition. He said he is not surprised that the organization has grown as quickly as it has.

“I am not surprised at the growth because of the people from the community we have on our board. Everyone has really come together and we haven’t had any opposition to what we are trying to do,” Hakes said. “We have support from law enforcement, the school district and organizations like the YMCA.”

Hakes and Battles said the forum’s topics are important to parents even if they think their children will never do drugs or drink.

“A lot of parents are saying, ‘I don’t have to come,’ but if they walk away with one piece of information that helps them it will be worth it,” said Battles.

Susan Dubin is also on the forum committee. She added there seems to be a misconception of who is doing the drugs.

“It is not just a few parents with a problem child. It can be someone getting good grades or someone you would not think would ever be involved,” she added.

The forum is aimed to let parents know what their children already know about the parties that are taking place in Crescenta Valley where kids are drinking and doing drugs.

“Drinking is sometimes perceived as okay by some parents if it is done in a controlled environment. We want to bring this subject up to make those aware of what is going on and that it is not okay,” Hakes said.

He added that it is not that Crescenta Valley has more drugs or more kids who are drinking than other communities.

“But we as a community have begun talking about the issues we do have. We have stepped up and are trying to fight a problem that is nationwide,” Hakes said.

He referred to the two recent deaths in Florida during spring break. Brandon Kohler, 19, from Winder, Georgia and Matt James, 17, of Cincinnati both died after falling from hotel balconies in Panama City, Flor. Although toxicology reports have not been returned witnesses allegedly reported alcohol related behavior of both teens before their falls.

“We want to do what we can to prevent that type of tragedy here,” he said.

The forum panel includes Dr. Greg Lizer, M.D. FAAP, Judge Henry J. Hall, Hank Paz of GUSD, Katherine Kasmir from Straight Up program and Pam Erdman a family and child therapist.

The free forum is at Verdugo Hills Hospital, fourth floor from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. on April 13.

By Mary O’KEEFE

At today’s Glendale City Council meeting Glendale Police Chief Ron DePompa will be speaking on the subject of drugs, specifically heroin, in Crescenta Valley.

“Each area of the city has its own unique characteristic,” DePompa said.  “But the area now has gang activity which is relatively new to the area.”

The gang DePompa will speak about is 211-C. He will be showing about 30 mug shots of the known gang members or associates who are La Crescenta and Montrose residents.

The gang known as 211-C is the local clique of the Magicians Club, which is based in Hollywood, police said. The local gang – 211-C – started out as a tagging crew a few years ago that has graduated from tagging to heroin sales, witness intimidation and side-arm robbery, DePompa said. “These are hardcore criminal types,” he added. Many of those members or associates of the local gang have been arrested on several counts from burglary to drug possession.  Some are now in jail while others wait for a court appearance, DePompa said.

The chief wants residents and the city council to understand that the drug problem in Crescenta Valley is not one that will easily go away without proactive policing and community involvement.

“In Crescenta Valley the large gang presence illustrates the nature of the long term sustained drug issue,” he said.

One way the police have and will continue to fight the battle against drugs in the area is by its newly formed geographic patrol.  The city is divided into areas where units of police patrol.  The officers get to know the area and the people in a form of cop-on-the-beat neighborhood policing.

Proactive crime fighting units as well as strong community policing is the key to the police strategy in battling the drug issue said De Pompa.

Although heroin is a big problem in Crescenta Valley it is not the only drug issue the area faces.

“[Crescenta Valley provides] a gateway environment.  There are a large number of 18 to 20-year-old [people] that have medical marijuana cards,” he said.  “There are seven to eight medical marijuana dispensaries in a three mile stretch in Tujunga.”

On Tuesday, DePompa will also touch on the growing trend of prescription medications being used at “cabinet parties.”  These are parties where individuals bring medication they get often from their family’s medicine cabinet.  The pills are dumped into a bowl and the individuals grab and take whatever they want.

“For some reason kids in La Cresenta are very open to drugs,” he added.

DePompa does not want to frighten but inform about the drug issue in Crescenta Valley.

“I think there are efforts that are making a difference,” he said, adding that the newly formed CV Drug and Alcohol Prevention Coalition has been helpful in communicating the problem and involving the community.

“It gets back to this is a real emergency,” he said.  “We take a very aggressive position on community policing.”

The chief is due to address the Glendale City Council today, Tuesday, after 6 p.m. on Charter Communications channel 6 or on ATT U-verse on channel 99/Government Access GTV6.