While heroin seems to be at the forefront of the drug epidemic nationwide, Bob Sharits of The Way Out Recovery, a brand new Santa Clarita drug treatment center, is clarifying that drug use in general is a serious issue in the SCV and beyond.

“There’s a lot of focus on opiates, a lot of focus on heroin,” Sharits said on the latest “The Way Out Recovery Hour” on KHTS AM-1220. “But make no mistake about it — other drugs are still running rampant out there.”

The show’s special guest, Detective Bill Velek from the Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station’s Juvenile Intervention Team (“J Team”), seconded this, noting other drugs are “always” an issue.

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“Heroin seems to get the community’s attention because (of) the overdoses,” he explained. “It’s a good jumping off point for us to get people’s attention… Once we have their attention, we can really pinpoint the conversation where it needs to be, which is just drug use in general — any and all mind-altering chemicals.”

Most people would probably be surprised to learn that alcohol is actually the most dangerous of these in terms of the number of related deaths every year, Sharits added.

“A lot of people will come in and they talk about heroin, they talk about methamphetamine, they talk about the so-called harder drugs, and then tend to minimize things like alcohol, for instance,” he said. “So when we talk about a specific drug like heroin, don’t let it overshadow the fact that some or all of these other drugs are very dangerous as well.”

The aim of the J Team is to address any kind of drug use early on by taking what Velek called a “three-pronged” approach: education, intervention and enforcement.

Not only does the J Team work to educate youth, but parents as well so they know what signs to watch out for and what resources are available in case they discover their child is using drugs.

“If you haven’t grown up around it, a lot of the time they don’t know what they’re looking at and the signs are right there in front of them,” Velek said. “Educating the community and parents and grandparents is really the first step in what we do in making sure that the community knows what it is they’re looking at so they can make a difference.”

While Velek noted there isn’t a high prevalence of juvenile heroin or opiate use in Santa Clarita, addressing the use of drugs like marijuana and wax in youth can help prevent addiction later.

“By educating them early and getting them away from it at an early age, we can cause a long-term effect rather than just addressing the issue once they become an addict,” he said.

Sharits agreed, noting that cannabis is a potential “gateway” drug, and if a child keeps using it, they’re more likely to move on to harder drugs like heroin later.

“Early intervention is the best prevention,” he said. “Studies show that most drug use starts between the ages of 12 and 17, so the earlier you can start talking to a kid (the better).”

In Santa Clarita, drug issues are a major concern for many. The mission of the Santa Clarita rehab The Way Out Recovery is to provide high quality, effective alcohol and drug treatment. The drug rehab’s goal is to assist adolescents, adults and their loved ones in becoming happily and usefully whole, free from drug addiction. Those seeking Santa Clarita drug treatment or a teen drug rehab can rest assured that The Way Out Recovery’s philosophy is to teach life-long coping skills and strategies to assist in improving quality of life and living happily and meaningfully without the need of destructive behaviors.

The Way Out Recovery

28118 Bouquet Canyon Road

Santa Clarita, CA 91350

(661) 296-4444