HOULTON – There is a drug abuse problem in the southern Aroostook County area, and what goes on in the community is reflected in area schools.

Because of that, dealing with the problem is not limited to the school system: The community as a whole must be involved.

That was the message Wednesday night from school and law enforcement personnel, councilors and community leaders during a follow-up meeting to one held last month to address a drug problem in Houlton High School.

People attending the first meeting, on Dec. 8, largely blamed the school’s administration for not being more proactive.

“This is a community issue, not a single person’s issue or an isolated part of the community’s issue,” Susan Lolley, SAD 29 superintendent, told about three dozen people at Wednesday’s meeting.

Mark Nelson, a substance abuse counselor for the Aroostook Mental Health Center who works in the schools, said he has seen a significant increase in the number of teenagers using opiate-based drugs such as hydrocodone and OxyContin.

In 1995, the number of all people being treated at AMHC for opiate-based drug problems was six, he said. By 2001 that number had jumped to 56, an increase of more than 900 percent.

Susanne Lilley, Aroostook County assistant district attorney, told the group that 90 percent of all cases prosecuted by the District Attorney’s Office are related to substance abuse.

“That’s a reflection on how serious the problem is,” she said.

As a 1982 graduate of Houlton High School, Lilley said there was a drug problem among students then, but that today, it has gone beyond alcohol and marijuana.

“It’s almost exclusively prescription drugs in this area,” she said.

She echoed others who said that parental involvement is the best deterrent to drug abuse among children.

“Check on them,” she said. “Pry, snoop, dare to search their room.”

According to Lolley, a number of things have happened in the school and community to address the drug abuse problem since the last meeting.

The superintendent said meetings have been held at Houlton Regional Hospital and with Vital Pathways, a community betterment group, and among school officials and law enforcement personnel on how they can work together more closely to develop strategies to deal with the drug problem.

The district also is applying for a grant to help address drug-related issues, and a VISTA volunteer will be working in the community this year with drug abuse issues as a high priority.

On March 17, a workshop session will be held for SAD 29 staff on what to look for when drug use or related behavior is suspected. The program will be offered in the evening for parents.

Lolley said the fact that the community already had admitted that there was a problem and was confronting it head-on was a major step to dealing with it.

“Drugs … are a community issue,” she said. “You can’t fix [that] problem until the community is willing to change its norms.”