Pubdate: Tue, 30 Aug 2005
Source: Boston Herald (MA)
Copyright: 2005 The Boston Herald, Inc
Contact:  http://news.bostonherald.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/53
Author: Dave  Wedge
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/youth.htm (Youth)

'SOBER' SCHOOL EYED

Hub Facility Would Help Teen Addicts

When Laura Good was suffering from a nasty drug habit at the young age of 
14, she had to go all the way to Minnesota to escape peer pressure in the 
Bay State and attend a truly drug-free school.

"I was  clean for a year and nine months and I tried going back to school 
and it just  wasn't working. It was miserable," said Good, now 19 and 
sober. The teen, a  multisubstance abuser with a particular taste for the 
designer drug ecstasy,  repeatedly relapsed when she returned to classes at 
Arlington Catholic and  Medford High School.

After  reading about a "recovery" school in Minneapolis in a magazine, she 
moved  there in 2002 and graduated in June after three years of high school 
with other  kids struggling to stay straight. She starts classes next week 
at Bunker Hill  Community College and is now a key part of a task force 
working to get a  recovery school open in Boston.

"This is a  dream that I've had - to have a high school around here for 
addicts," she said.

Frustrated  by epidemic-like surges in heroin and OxyContin use among 
teens, the state  Legislature has earmarked $800,000 for "sober" schools in 
Boston and  Springfield.

"Three  years ago, if we brought this up, people would have laughed," said 
state Rep.  Brian Wallace (D-S.Boston), who is on the Legislature's 
Committee on Substance  Abuse and Mental Health. "Now people have a 
different opinion and people are  thinking outside the box." With  backing 
from Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey, the task force has its eye on two Hub 
sites  and hopes to have the school open by January. The school will meet 
state  curriculum requirements, and students, who must apply or be referred 
by the  courts, will be drug-tested.

"I think  its time has come," said Boston fire Lt. Willie Ostiguy, who is 
on the task  force. "We're not going to save everybody, but if we can make 
a little dent,  we've accomplished something." Studies have shown that teen 
addicts who return to their old schools relapse 92 percent  of the time 
while 90 percent in recovery schools stay clean and half go to  college. 
While there are 18 "sober" schools nationwide, Boston's would be the  first 
in Massachusetts, which ranks second in teen drug use and has seen a 
600  percent hike in fatal overdoses of OxyContin and heroin since 1990. 
"We have a  major OxyContin and heroin problem out there. I see the 
magnitude of it and it's  scary," said Sen. Steven Tolman (D-Brighton). "We 
can curb the tide of drug  abuse and have safe havens for youngsters 
in  recovery."
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