By Matt Jablow

Suffolk District Attorney Tom Spota today announced the indictments of two members of Trinitario, a violent street gang based in New York City.  The headline here wasn’t the amount of heroin seized — about ten-thousand dollars — but the fact that Trinitario is now in Suffolk County.  Spota says he’s not certain exactly how many other Trinitario members are still living, and dealing heroin, in Suffolk, but he says it’s a matter of real concern to prosecutors and police.  He also told me what many people in law enforcement have told me in the past: that the best way to get rid of drug dealing, and the violence that attends it, is to get rid of the demand for drugs.  Obviously, that’s no easy feat.

By Jackie Lukas

It’s been an eye-opening week as we showed you Long Island’s heroin epidemic.

I spoke with a brother and sister who both used heroin – and a young woman who took her first hit when she was just 17 years old.  All three are either currently going through or have completed rehab. But they say it was an uphill battle. They were all denied care because they didn’t have insurance. And they say it was too expensive to pay out of pocket.

“It’s a shame that some places will not take you in if you don’t have insurance. How could you deny somebody that is screaming out for help?” – Meghan

“My mom said to me, she’s like we need to get you on Medicaid because I can’t afford for you to go anywhere. It’s too expensive. And I just remember crying and thinking I couldn’t wait, I had to go now.”  – Lauren

“I think it’s very sad because some people come from the streets and they don’t have the money to get themselves help. It’s very discouraging.” - David

But there are places on Long Island that will not turn you away for financial or insurance reasons.

Long Island Teen Challenge is one facility that will not turn anyone down. Teen Challenge is a faith based organization. Addicts commit to a 12 month program where they live in a home in West Babylon. Teen Challenge asks families to pay about $450 a month. But if they can’t afford it, the organization has scholarships. Through donations and fundraising they will house addicts and give them the necessary care. David Bengyak and his sister Lauren are currently getting help at Teen Challenge.

“Teen Challenge is awesome because it’s not just getting off the drugs, it gives you a purpose. I know today that I have a purpose with my life.” – Lauren

C.K. Post Addiction Treatment Center in Brentwood also does not turn down addicts. It’s located in Brentwood – on the Pilgrim State site. C.K. Post is a state run rehab center. Here, addicts can get the help they need and will not be turned away. Meghan Johnson got help at C.K. Post. She lived there and went through a 28 day rehab program. She told me that her parents made her go – and she thought she would be out on the streets again using heroin. But once she stepped foot into C.K. post – she realized she needed to change her life. She says it was the best decision that she has ever made.

“I’m really happy that I came to CK post to get my life back on track – that’s where I need to be now I need to be sober and living a sober life.” – Meghan

by Bob Plunkett

The dollar is sinking in value and Wall Street should be panicking that foreign investors will start dumping their U.S. Treasury securities. Should worry – but clearly there is no cause for concern.

Foreigners are still buying with abandon. Foreign sales of Treasury bonds and notes in September topped $44 billion. That’s up from $28 billion in August. That brings to total buying to more than $333 billion over the last 12 months. These are odd financial times and this is odd financial behavior. Because while the falling dollar makes U.S. securities cheaper for foreigners to buy, it also devalues the value of their holdings. Despite complaining about how U.S. borrowing is getting out of hand, the Chinese remain the biggest single foreign owner of Treasury securities — $798.9 billion as of September. Japan is the second with $751.5 billion worth of Treasuries and Britain is third at $249 billion – a smaller amount but double what it held last January.

And this is the only reason the U.S. can keep interest rates low and why the dollar’s decling has been orderly.

Stay tuned.

By Bill Korbel

This fall’s mega movie hit is the apocolyptic film 2012.  In case you have not been near a television for the last week or so and therefore have not seen any of the commericals for the film,  here’s the plot summary (and I promise not to give anything away that might spoil it for you).

A scientist discovers that certain astronomical events will shortly destroy the planet and everyone and everything on it.  Governments get together and while skeptical, join efforts to save as many people as possible.  They do this while keeping it secret from the general population.  Through the film, we follow an eclectic  group citizens as they try to save themselves from the inevitable as the planet crumbles around them.                                                                             

Oh … wait a minute.  That’s not the plot line of 2012.  Well it is, sort of, but it is also the plot of the 1951 blockbuster ” When Worlds Collide.”  I’m not saying the producer of 2012 ripped off the older version of planetary destruction, but there sure are a lot of similarities.  By the way, the 1951 film won the Oscar for special effects and I can guarantee 2012 will do the same.

Sure it’s full of implausible moments, but it is well acted with a fine cast and the special effects are mind boggling.  I have never seen destruction on a global scale so realistically depicted.  I’m talking about “2012,” not “When Worlds Collide,” although that’s exactly what movie reviewers wrote about that film nearly 60 years ago.  It just proves the adage: what’s old is new again.    One more bit of advice.  It runs 2 hours and 45 minutes.  Add in 15 minutes of coming attractions and you are going to be sitting in the theater for 3 hours, so don’t make my mistake and drink a soda before the film starts.

By Jill Wagner

What should you do if you THINK your child is doing drugs but they deny it? The signs are all there, but you just don’t know for sure?  Now the Suffolk County Sheriff Department has a program that will let you finally get the answers you’re looking for: “Test, Don’t Guess.”

The department is giving out FREE drug tests to anyone who wants one.   They’re easy to use — you take them home, have your child give a urine sample, and then you can find out the results  just ten minutes later – yourself.  Everything from heroin to pot to pills will show up.

Just as importantly, the test comes with guidelines for TALKING to your kids about drug use.  It can sometimes be an uncomfortable subject that you’d rather put off until another time.  But as the Suffolk District Attorney said rather poignantly — “The time to act is now, not later when you’re about to bury your child.”

Or when your child ends up in jail.

The Sheriff has that part covered, too.  They’re offering parents the chance to bring their kids on a private tour of the county jail… a little preview of what’s in store in they continue using drugs.

The kids will also have the chance to talk to inmates like 20-year-old Jamie from Commack.  She says she started using heroin when she was a senior in high school.  That was the beginning of the end.  She went from being an Italian honor student with dreams of teaching to a convicted criminal sitting behind bars.

She told me that heroin is “everywhere” at Commack High School, as it is in many other high schools across the Island.  She said her parents often asked if she was using drugs, but she denied it.  An actual drug test would have left no doubt.  Looking back, she says her parents would have probably put her on house arrest — a far better option than actually sitting in jail.

For more information about the tests or the tours, you can check out the Sheriff Department website at www.suffolksheriff.com.  They also have a list of other resources that can help if you need counseling for your child.