Addiction's depths — and deaths

Joey Doron arrived home early from a night out with his friends.

Despite a rough year personally and with his family, Joey stayed up talking to his father, Michael, until nearly 2 a.m.

"It was the best conversation we'd had in a year and a half," said Michael Doron.

When Michael told his son he couldn't stay awake any longer, he retired for the evening.

"I said, 'I love you,' and he said, 'I love you too,' " Doron said.

Less than six hours later, 17-year-old Joey Doron was found dead in his bedroom of an accidental drug overdose. An autopsy would later reveal a mixture of heroin and cocaine in his body.

Michael Doron is among several parents who have contacted the Deseret Morning News since July when a story ran examining a recent spike in the number of Utah teenagers fatally overdosing on drugs, predominantly heroin. The drug appeared to be making a comeback in the Beehive State, especially among middle- to upper-class juveniles who did not fit the dated stereotype of a heroin user.

The parents either wanted more information about teenagers and drug use or they wanted to share their own story of how this addictive, destructive and too often deadly drug was responsible for tragedy in their families.

Doron said more parents need to be educated about today's drug culture because drugs don't respect racial, ethnic, monetary or religious boundaries.

Salt Lake County Sheriff's Sgt. Jason Mazuran agrees that today's typical teen drug user is not an uneducated, unkempt homeless person, which is why many parents are being caught off guard. Doron himself lives in an Olympus Cove neighborhood where your neighbor is likely to be a doctor, attorney or judge. But when it came to illegal drugs and the ways in which teens were obtaining and using them, he was completely in the dark.

"They think, 'Not my kid, not in my area.' They're not even looking for it. It sneaks up on them," Mazuran said. "As a result, they're not prepared for it. They don't take measures in their own home or do simple things such as increasing their own awareness."

To help parents recognize the red flags to possible drug use, Doron is organizing a conference aimed at raising the awareness of parents to the problem of juvenile drug use. His panel discussion tentatively scheduled for March 16, 2006, is expected to include local law enforcers, doctors, judges, school officials and others.