More details on how to determine whether a teen is using drugs must be available to parents, advisory council member Sam Manoukian said.
“Because without them I think this is an uphill battle no matter how many police officers you stick up at [Crescenta Valley High School],” he said.
Advisory council member Rick Barnes said many teens with drug problems have gone to juvenile camps and been released to their parents, who don’t how to help their children get back on the right track.
The update on drug use comes three days after detectives arrested 47-year-old Hrazda Avanessians after he was allegedly selling marijuana to customers out of his La Crescenta video store, police said.
Neighbors and parents complained to police after suspecting the store was selling heroin, marijuana and untaxed cigarettes, police said.
Drug use in the Crescenta Valley has been a growing concern among police and parents.
“This is a community social problem, fundamentally,” Capt. Kirk Palmer said.
Community members held a forum Oct. 27 at Verdugo Hills Hospital to discuss drug and alcohol use among teens and to urge parents to get involved in their children’s lives. The forum was attended by about 70 parents, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Glendale police, educators, businesspeople and community leaders.
Recent police reports indicate some teens were committing burglaries to support their heroin habits.
Police have arrested drug dealers who were selling heroin to teens in La Crescenta, Grimes said.
But those teens have found other ways to get drugs.
Some of them take a bus to downtown Los Angeles and buy heroin from dealers there, he said. Other teens pay people to drive them to heroin suppliers.
“They are buying enough for themselves and a little extra so they can sell extra to support their own habits,” Grimes said.
More than a week ago, he said a young man who wanted heroin asked a few men to drive him to downtown Los Angeles for $50. But they reportedly drove him behind an alley and tried to steal his money.
Witnesses reported the attack to police, and the men were arrested, Grimes said.
“These guys tried to do a robbery without a gun or without a knife, but the next time, he does a robbery with a knife or gun, and then we end up with something much more serious,” he said.
