NORTHFIELD, Minn. (AP) -- Northfield's acting police chief said Thursday that high school students here are indeed using heroin, despite criticism that a police announcement about the use of the hardcore drug was exaggerated.
"I believe this is a problem in Northfield. I think there is no question about that," acting Chief Roger Schroeder said after a meeting with school and health officials. "We are trying to get our hands around it and find a solution."
He added: "One child or student using heroin is too many."
Two weeks ago, Police Chief Gary Smith startled this leafy college town about 30 miles south of Minneapolis by saying that as many as 150 young people were hooked on heroin. He said as many as 250 current and former Northfield Senior High students could be involved in a heroin ring working out of the school, and that the drug abuse had fueled a rise in burglaries and thefts, some of them at St. Olaf and Carleton colleges.
