Pubdate: Thu, 13 Jul 2006
Source: Swampscott Reporter (Marblehead, MA)
Copyright: 2006 Swampscott Reporter
Contact:  http://www2.townonline.com/swampscott/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/3582
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)

BLODGETT'S HEROIN PREVENTION PROGRAM WINS ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Essex District Attorney Jonathan W. Blodgett's Choose to Refuse: A 
Heroin and OxyContin Prevention Education Program, has won an 
Outstanding Achievement Award from the Executive Office of Public Safety.

In a letter to District Attorney Blodgett announcing the selection, 
Secretary of Public Safety Robert Haas said that the reviewers were 
impressed by the program's innovative approaches to public safety 
used to serve the community.

The award will be presented at a ceremony in the Nurses Hall at the 
Massachusetts State House in Boston Thursday, July 20, at 10:30 a.m. 
Only four Outstanding Achievement Awards will be presented statewide. 
The Executive Office of Public Safety will also present eight 
Meritorious Achievement Awards.

The Choose to Refuse program, which is designed for middle and high 
school students, is based on the premise that if youth learn the 
facts about heroin and OxyContin, they will be better able to make 
informed decisions not to use those drugs.

The curriculum includes question and answer discussions about the 
drugs, role playing activities and provides fact sheets with 
information about heroin and OxyContin, including the physical, legal 
and social consequences of their use. It also includes film clips 
highlighting the lessons learned throughout the program, and provides 
a personal plan for students to say no to drugs. In addition, it 
furnishes a guide to help them create their own public service announcement.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman