Pubdate: Mon, 07 Mar 2005
Source: Daily News of Newburyport (MA)
Copyright: 2005 Essex County Newspapers, Inc
Contact:  http://www.newburyportnews.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/693
Author: Julia Diament
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/dare.htm (D.A.R.E.)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/oxycontin.htm (Oxycontin/Oxycodone)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

FORUM WILL EXAMINE DRUG ABUSE BY  YOUTH

NEWBURYPORT - In a county where 93 people have died of drug overdoses in 
the last two years alone, Newburyport is hardly immune to the growing 
horror of heroin addiction.

On Thursday night, Mayor Mary Anne Clancy's Task Force on Underage 
Substance Abuse plans to issue parents with warnings of what to look for, 
and what to do  if their child falls victim to opiates.

The public forum, entitled, "Do you know what your children are doing 
tonight?" will be held from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in the Newburyport High School 
Auditorium.

"The message we are trying to send is that these drugs are everywhere, not 
just in low-income areas," Mayor Clancy said. "In a community as beautiful 
as Newburyport, it is sometimes easy to think that we don't have an 
onslaught of drug use, but this is simply not the case."

A number of guest speakers will provide information about the increasing 
popularity of substance abuse among young people, and how members of the 
community can work together to help combat it.

The forum will also emphasize what parents need to be aware of, such as 
signs to watch for if they suspect their child is experimenting with drugs, 
examples  of what increasingly popular "designer drugs" might look like, 
and possible  resources to turn to for assistance and support for substance 
abuse-related problems. One of the most frightening escalating drug-related 
problems on the North Shore is that of the rapidly growing abuse of opiates 
among young people, specifically, the abuse of OxyContin and heroin. In 
addition to the county's 93 confirmed overdose deaths, Steve O'Connell, 
spokesman for District Attorney Jonathan W. Blodgett, said there are 
another 77 believed, but not yet confirmed, to be the result of overdoses. 
There have been no reported opiate deaths in Newburyport in that two-year 
period.

"If not for Narcan, (a drug used by emergency and medical providers to 
combat the effects of opiates) the figures would have been absolutely 
staggering," O'Connell said.

Essex County Sheriff Frank Cousins said he has seen opiate abuse grow 
extensively over the past several years, due in large part to the 
increasingly  easy accessibility young people have to such drugs.

"It's often easier to find heroin than it is to buy beer," Cousins said, 
noting that heroin can generally be purchased on the street for as little 
as $4 to $6, often less than a six-pack of beer. It can take only one or 
two uses of heroin to become addicted.

"The big thing is to educate parents, teachers, students and members of the 
community about how addictive heroin is, and what it can do to you," 
Cousins said of the forum.

Paul Fleming, spokesman for the Essex County Sheriff's Department, has also 
seen firsthand what opiate addiction can do.

"The prevalence of this (opiate abuse) in Essex County is much higher than 
in Suffolk County or Plymouth County," he said. "For 90 percent of the 
people who  come to us, their reasons for breaking the law generally have 
to do with problems with drug and alcohol addiction."

Cousins and Essex County District Attorney Jonathan W. Blodgett have been 
working to target opiate abuse in Massachusetts schools for some time, with 
an emphasis on treatment, prevention through education and enforcement, and 
are encouraging cities around the state to host forums.

In addition to Blodgett and Cousins, other guest speakers at the forum 
include Newburyport Resource Officer Keith Carter, Lynn DARE Officer Larry 
Wentzel, Newburyport High School Principal Jim Lee, and Timothy Lawrence, a 
firefighter in Lynn who lost his 21-year-old daughter last year to a 
drug  overdose. Sergeant Michael Reilly of the Northeast Merrimack Valley 
Drug Task Force will present a slideshow of visuals of different drugs to 
help parents identify some of the less obvious varieties of "designer 
drugs," such as ecstasy, that often resemble over-the-counter medications, 
such as Advil or Tylenol. Melinda Crossman, a member of the mayor's task 
force and the chair of the Parent Alliance at Newburyport High School, 
echoed the mayor's sentiments of misconceptions that these types of 
problems aren't happening around here. She said she became particularly 
concerned with the growing problem after The Daily News published a series 
of articles about the escalating use of heroin among local youths.

"What struck me were the pictures; they looked just like my kids," Crossman 
said, of her decision to get involved with the task force. "Let's keep 
talking about it (drug abuse), so we can help our children make good 
decisions, because  they are ultimately going to make their own." Sheriff 
Cousins agrees that parental control only goes so far. "What is scary is 
when I see parents who have done a great job raising their children; 
children from good, loving families who come to jail for committing drug 
and alcohol-related crimes," he said. "That's when I say we have a 
serious  problem."
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MAP posted-by: Beth