Different people have different opinions about drugs. Miss Fannie Krevitsky, school social worker, Mr. Randall Johnson, counselor, and Mrs. Frances Ringl, school nurse all have one thing in common. They all admit that there is a drug problem at Maine West.

Miss Krevitsky, who worked with addicts in the inner city in 1951, said, "I don't know how big a problem it is. It would be near impossible to find out because the kids cover up and are afraid to talk. I don't think that it is more of a problem now, than it was a month ago." She thinks that while many kids use drugs, most of them don't become regular users. She believes that a person who uses heroin has a lot of problems, probably a feeling that nobody cares and he feels that he's missing satisfaction in life.

She thinks that three big problems of using heroin are 1. a mother-to-be is addicted, then her baby will be born addicted; 2. once you are hooked it is very hard to stop the habit (most ex-addicts are on methadone, a synthetic drug which has the same effect as heroin, but not the craving); 3. the danger of hepatitus. When asked where

she thought the kids got money to buy drugs, she said, "They borrow from each other; they use their allowances; they shoplift; and then sell what they steal." She said that she would like to get together with some kids who are on dope and just rap with them.

Miss Krevitsky then had some other answers about why she thought kids started taking drugs. "There's so much talk about drugs that they just try it out of curiosity. These kids usually quit because they don't find it interesting enough."

Mr. Johnson said, "Yes, its a problem. It's symptomatic. Today's youth has problems relating to reality. Drugs alleviate the problem." He said the school must recognize the problem, allow it to be discussed, and be objective about it.

Mrs. Ringl said, "I think we have less of a problem than many other schools do. We must be alert to the problem in order to solve it. If we suspect that a person is on drugs, we notify the person's parents and tell them the symptoms. The parents are in a better position to judge because they see their kids up close every day."