Pubdate: Fri, 21 Jan 2005
Source: Allston-Brighton Tab (MA)
Copyright: 2005 Allston-Brighton Tab
Contact:  http://www2.townonline.com/allston/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3611
Author: Chris Orchard, Correspondent
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/oxycontin.htm (Oxycontin/Oxycodone)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

TASK FORCE RECEIVES GRANT TO HELP BATTLE SUBSTANCE ABUSE

The Allston-Brighton Substance Abuse Task Force has begun to make ambitious 
plans for how it will use $140,000 worth of grant money.

The task force's goal is to prevent youth and adults from getting hooked on 
drugs, particularly OxyContin and heroin.

"We're basically trying to target everybody in Allston-Brighton," said task 
force project coordinator Donna Abruzzese at a meeting last week.

The organization hopes to work with other existing groups in 
Allston-Brighton to reach every corner of the population. A large focus of 
the prevention effort will be on youth, but the task force also hopes to 
work with parents, businesses, churches, service organizations, immigrant 
communities, college students and everyone else.

Dierdre Houtmeyers, co-chairwoman of the task force and director of St. 
Elizabeth Medical Center's Comprehensive Addiction Program, wants the 
effort to be a community movement.

"It can't be just 50 of us sitting at a table. It has to be 5,000, or 
50,000 people moving to more awareness around substance abuse," she said.

City Councilor Jerry McDermott is the other co-chairman of the Substance 
Abuse Task Force.

The group came together when officials at St. Elizabeth's and in the 
community started to notice an increase of young adults being treated for 
substance abuse, said Houtmeyers.

"We realized that we have a pretty huge problem in our area, specifically 
around OxyContin and heroin," she said.

OxyContin, a prescription pain-killer, can cause serious addiction problems 
when abused. The drug looks like a Tylenol, said Houtmeyers, but is much 
stronger and has similar effects to heroin.

Once someone is hooked on OxyConitin, which is expensive, it becomes harder 
and harder to afford the drug, particularly for a young person. As a 
result, addicts eventually turn to heroin, said Kristin Langone, senior 
legislative aide to McDermott.

"[Heroin] is so cheap and it's so pure, that a lot of people have 
unfortunately turned to it," she said. These days heroin is so pure it can 
be smoked or snorted, she said.

According to Houtmeyers, Boston leads the nation in heroin use.

The Allston-Brighton Substance Abuse Task Force seeks to prevent such drug 
abuse before it starts. It has received more than $140,000 in grant money 
to do this. Most of the grant money, $100,000, comes from the Department of 
Health and Human Services' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services 
Administration. Another $40,000 comes from the Massachusetts Department of 
Public Health, through the Boston Public Health Commission, said Houtmeyers.

Much of what the Allston-Brighton Substance Abuse Task Force will do is 
mandated by the federal government, through its grant.

The task force will focus on community and family education, youth outreach 
and advocacy. It will seek to build coalitions and share resources with 
other organizations in the area.

Some of the youth outreach, for example, might be done in cooperation with 
the Oak Square YMCA. Outreach to immigrant groups might involve working 
with the Joseph Smith Community Health Center, which has existing 
relationships with such groups.

While the task force is still discussing which groups to work with, it 
hopes to use these existing organizations so it doesn't have to "reinvent 
the wheel," as some task force members said at a recent meeting.

Some activities the task force is already planning include a youth summit 
and a Walk for Recovery. The task force held a youth summit with about 700 
students last summer, and organizers viewed it as a success.

Some of the task force's other goals are less tangible. It wants to change 
the overall environment and attitude of Allston-Brighton, which has many 
college students, bars and liquor stores, all which lead to an atmosphere 
in which substance abuse can occur easily. Alcohol is the gateway substance 
to other drugs, said Houtmeyers.

By working with other organizations, the task force hopes to stay a 
permanent force in the community.
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