ALL too often, parents just do not see the signs of heroin addiction.

Even the lingo can pass them by. Some parents might think that 'Chasing The Dragon' referred to a rock band, or that 'getting some gear' meant buying clothes.

In the third in our series of features on heroin in Northwich, reporter Nick Hallissey watched the reaction of parents during a police drugs talk.

"I DON'T know anyone who has come off heroin," said the policeman.

The statement, delivered in the officer's usual sincere tone, froze the atmosphere in the school dining hall.

Thirty parents, getting an education in the heroin culture, were wide-eyed with a kind of quiet despair.

Parts of the evening's talk had been humorous - the policeman had handed out an electrical bong invented by a lazy cannabis user who couldn't be bothered to inhale - and some parts had been sad. But that statement left the audience cold.

The officer was Detective Sergeant Nigel Brookes, who heads the drugs squad at Northwich Police Station.

He was visiting The Grange School in Hartford, but the talk could have taken place in any school.

"I don't want people to panic," Nigel told them.

"There isn't a heroin epidemic in Northwich. But it is here, it does affect youngsters, and when things go wrong, it ruins children, families, careers, the lot."

No-one in his experience has ever given up heroin. Someone trying to give up either decides to start again, or is forced to do so by their friends.

And Nigel went on to explain the ways in which someone who injects heroin destroys their body.

"Put simply, they run out of veins," he told his audience.

"It starts in one arm, where they use the wrist and forearm. Those veins will eventually collapse, so they move to the other arm. The veins there will also collapse, so they move on.

"They go on to the groin, and because it's very difficult to isolate the veins there, they often miss and cause themselves terrible injuries.

"Then they move on to the buttocks. They will finally run out of veins, and start dripping the stuff directly into skin punctures.

"Years later, they're completely ravaged by it. The body's a mess and the veins don't work. That's when they start injecting behind the eye. What's left is not pretty."

Nigel is well aware that the facts of heroin abuse can shock people, but his style is not aggressive. He sets out to explain, as simply as possible, how and why young people turn to heroin.

"It can start anywhere, but it's most common to start when they're out with their mates," he said.

"They'll see some of their friends smoking heroin, and they'll ask what it's all about. In many cases, these friends don't tell the truth - they'll say it's cannabis. So, they just don't know what it is they are smoking. Neither do they understand the consequences, both physical and legal."

The talk uses a new resource pack developed by the police and Cheshire County Council, entitled Insight.

But Nigel brings his own visual aids, in the form of his collection of drug equipment, recovered after police raids. The array of pipes, pills, bottles, needles and bongs - or cannabis distillers - is quite disturbing.

The school's Personal Social Education team, led by teachers Paul and Vanessa Buckley, organised the visit. The parents who attended all had children aged between 14 and 16 who attended the school.

Paul said: "You can't stage the battle against drugs at an international level, or a government level. It has to be waged from the streets, and from the schools."

Vanessa added: "This is Nigel's first time talking to our parents here, but he has spoken to our pupils before."

Nigel's talk had the right effect. He hadn't shocked or panicked his audience, he had educated them.

One parent said: "I had no idea how widespread the problem was, and how easy it is to get involved. You have a peripheral view of these things from TV, and from what the children say."

Another added: "It's no good making assumptions about this subject, and believing that you know it all."

Nigel feels that these talks are essential. If anything, he's dismayed that more parents don't come forward to find out about drugs.

"From a professional point of view, educating as many people as possible obviously makes good sense. But from a personal one, I have seen far too many parents turn around and ask me, 'how could it have happened to us?' I'll do everything I can to try and stop the spread, but I need help from all sides."

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