Drug arrests sound a 'wake-up call' to parents After Morris raid nets local teens

Star Ledger ^ | 07.30.06 | BILL SWAYZE AND LAWRENCE RAGONESE

[Coleus]

An actress in the school play. Two star high school football players. The cute hostess at a local restaurant. Two busy workers behind the counter at the pharmacy. All teenagers with promise in an affluent triangle of eastern Morris County towns.

But all were criminally charged last week in a drug bust coordinated by the Morris County Prosecutor's Office. Operation Painkiller nabbed 47 adults and seven juveniles, including some current students and a host of alumni of Whippany Park High School in Hanover.

Police said they seized more than $70,000 in cash and drugs, including 4 ounces of heroin with a street value of $45,000. More than 600 Percocet pills valued at $15,000 and at least 200 Oxycontin and generic oxycodone pills with $6,000 in street value were also taken in the raid.

The ring's alleged leader, Evan Rokoszak, an 18-year-old Whippany Park High School dropout, peddled 5,000 pills a month as part of a distribution network of young people, said authorities. He used two minors as his main distributors, and employed dozens of other young people to "insulate" himself from day-to-day operations, according to Morris County Prosecutor Michael Rubbinaccio.

Though many of those arrested were from Hanover, a town already reeling from two recent drug-related deaths, Rubbinaccio has sounded a countywide "wake-up call" to all parents about youth drug abuse. He vowed to lead a full-court press against drug abuse, to include a combination of police action and education. A series of forums and seminars will be held in coming months, and the Morris County Crimestoppers' program will set up shop in nine school districts.

A countywide drug summit will be held Sept. 20. A conference on suicide prevention and prescription drug abuse is set for Oct. 6. Morristown Memorial Hospital will run a program on adolescent drug abuse

[Coleus]

ah, the secret is out, rich kids from Morris County sell and use drugs. A little late for a proactive approach, but, better late than never. Finally, admitting it after all these years is a step in the right direction.

[randog]

Rich kids were selling and using drugs back in my day. Nothing new here.

[Theoden]

Hey I'm a Morris County kid. I personally know a few people who were on Percocet in High School, and they were not your typical druggies, but upper middle class people from my neighborhood. This raid isn't going to stop anything, but at least they got the big shot dealers. Anyway, it's not something that one may think goes on in Morris County, the Republican stronghold of NJ, unless you live around here, albeit Dover-ico and Morristown are the big crime zones.

[Wolfie]

An actress in the school play. Two star high school football players. The cute hostess at a local restaurant. Two busy workers behind the counter at the pharmacy. All teenagers with promise in an affluent triangle of eastern Morris County towns.

Not to overstate the obvious, but just who do they think use all the drugs sold in and around high schools?

[Know your rights]

If they bust enough actresses and star football players, maybe the sheeple will wise up to what the War On Drugs is really about.

[wintertime]

If they bust enough actresses and star football players, maybe the sheeple will wise up to what the War On Drugs is really about.
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If they bust enough star actresses and football players, maybe, just maybe, parents will realize that even "blue ribbon" schools are toxic cesspools.

Talk about denial. I just roll my eyes when I hear that line, "But,,,my child goes to a 'blue ribbon' school. They go to a WONDERFUL school." ( yeah right!)