November 20, 2013 THE VILLADOM TIMES III • Page 21 Police chiefs invite parents to drug awareness program by John Koster Wyckoff Police Chief Benjamin Fox, Franklin Lakes Police Chief Joseph Seltenrich, and Oakland Police Chief Edward Kasper have teamed up to present a drug aware- ness program to parents from the FLOW area on Tuesday, Nov. 19. The program will be held at 7 p.m. at Indian Hills High School, 97 Yawpo Avenue in Oakland. The commu- nity is invited. The chiefs’ informative program will assist parents in understanding how severe the use of heroin and prescrip- tion pain killer drugs is in the FLOW community. Parents will learn how quickly a child can become addicted to pre- scription pain killers, and then move on to heroin, a cheaper alternative. “Parents will learn how their child can quickly become addicted to prescription pain killers, and then move on to heroin use because of the cost of the pills,” Chief Fox said last week. “While the situation is not unique to Franklin Lakes, Oakland, and Wyckoff, it’s here. Many of our chil- dren are addicted and parents need to know what to watch for to protect their children.” A drug expert from the Bergen County Prosecutors Office will provide be on hand to discuss how teens who are addicted will do anything to get drugs. “Parents will hear (the expert) say how teenagers who get addicted to these drugs will do anything to get drugs,” Chief Fox said. “When he says anything, he means it.” In recent months, a number of teens and people in their early 20s have been arrested for pain killers and heroin -- a drug that has become more widely used in recent years. “We did some research for the Municipal Alliance about drug arrests over the past 10 years and over the last three or four years the increase in heroin arrests has been just stag- gering,” Chief Fox told Villadom TIMES. “It went from the point where 10 years ago we never saw heroin to the point where heroin now accounts for the majority of drug arrests.” Towns outside the Wyckoff, Franklin Lakes, and Oak- land nexus have had similar issues. In Glen Rock, a stu- dent at Glen Rock High School was recently arrested for his second attempt to sell heroin to an undercover officer. Students in a number of schools say heroin is readily avail- able and relatively cheap. “Don’t be a parent who puts his or her head in the sand and says ‘Not my child,’” Chief Fox added. “Way too many parents of teenagers who are deeply involved in this prob- lem have said ‘I never would have believed that my child would get messed up with this.’ Locally, we have had stu- dents with straight A grades and scholarships dealing with addiction. It is destroying lives.” Chamber: Santa coming to Wyckoff The Wyckoff Chamber of Commerce’s Santa Comes to Wyckoff and Annual Tree Lighting Ceremony will be held Friday, Dec. 6. (Rain date: Dec. 9.) All are invited to enjoy this special visit from Santa and Mrs. Claus, and to share the magic of the tree lighting ceremony. The event will include be refreshments and holiday music. Santa and Mrs. Claus will travel through Wyckoff on a fire truck, meeting and greeting children and their families at various locations. Santa’s first stop will be at the Cedar Hill Plaza at 4 p.m. He will be at the Wyckoff Shopping Center at 5:15 p.m., Main Street at 5:45 p.m., and the May- flower Shopping Center at 6 p.m. He will travel through the Wyckoff Square Shopping Center at 6:45 p.m. and then make stops at the Rock Ledge Plaza at 7 p.m. and at Boul- der Run Shopping Center at 7:15 p.m. Santa’s last stop of the evening will be at Wyckoff Town Hall for the tree light- ing ceremony at 7:45 p.m. Please note: Santa will not be getting off the truck at Main Street, Wyckoff Square Shopping Center, or Rock Ledge Plaza stops. Be sure to bring cameras to record this festive annual event. For more event information, visit www.wyckoffcham- ber.com. Mr. and Mrs. Claus with friends at a previous event.