NORTH HAMPTON - The cafeteria at North Hampton School was a sea of red last week. Students sported red shirts, red pants, red hats, red scarves, red ribbons, even streaks of temporary red hair dye.

Posters and red balloons decorated the stage where the jazz band and chorus sat waiting for their turn to play. After the Pledge of Allegiance, students sat cross-legged on the floor and all eyes turned to the podium.

"There is a war going on amongst us, on our own soil, and it's the war on drugs," said eighth-grader John Gorman, president of the student council.

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Democrat Justin Nadeau yesterday accepted the endorsement of the Marijuana Policy Project, a national group advocating the right of doctors to prescribe medical marijuana.

"While I oppose the legalization of marijuana for non-medicinal purposes, I question why my opponent (Jeb Bradley) believes that drugs such as OxyContin or Percocet, powerful drugs that can be legally prescribed by physicians, are fine by him while other substances, such as medical marijuana, should be off limits for prescription from physicians," Nadeau said.

Nadeau, campaigning for the 1st Congressional District seat, will make appearances today and Friday at the following events:

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SEABROOK - When Winnacunnet High School seniors Heather Fritz and Arlee Stankatis of Seabrook searched for a topic for their senior seminar project, they needed to look no further than their local police department.

The 17-year-olds had heard and read much about Seabrook's heroin and drug problem, which was called "epidemic" last year by Ellen Arcieri of the state Narcotics Investigation Unit. They wanted to find out for themselves just what was going on in town.

Fritz and Stankatis contacted the Seabrook Police Department, and found a bevy of officers willing to give more than 20 hours of their time helping them research the topic.

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CONCORD -- More people in New Hampshire die from illegal drug overdoses than are killed in traffic accidents, said Scott Burns, deputy to national Drug Czar John Walters.

"One thing that struck me in coming here is that you have serious problems with heroin and opium," Burns said during a press conference in the office of N.H. U.S. Attorney Tom Colantuono.

Illegal drugs of choice in New Hampshire are heroin, opium, cocaine and crack cocaine, Burns said. Other statistics indicate that the use marijuana is spreading among 10, 11 and 12 year olds nationally, Burns said.

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The federal government recently announced that the growing potency of America's most popular illegal drug, marijuana, and the number of kids seeking help to get off the drug (one in five users) worried them so much that they were soliciting new marijuana-research proposals and urging local law enforcement to crack down on those who sell the drug.

The pro-marijuana lobby was furious and immediately charged the feds with fear-mongering and clamoring to protect their (not so glamorous, actually) jobs in Washington, D.C. Their cries rested on claims that more potent marijuana is not tantamount to more dangerous marijuana and that the rise in the number of treatment beds for marijuana users is due to criminal justice referrals, not the drug's harmfulness.

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SEABROOK - From an initiative started by former police chief William Baker, the Seabrook Police Department is starting a "Seabrook Drug Coalition of the Willing" to help drug- and alcohol-addicted residents.

Sgt. Michael Frost is coordinating the program under the direction of acting Chief David Currier and acting Deputy Chief Patrick Manthorn. Frost is looking for residents willing to sign on as volunteers to help their neighbors and strangers overcome drug and alcohol addiction.

Those willing are asked to call the police department at 474-5200.

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DOVER - President Bush's "drug czar," John P. Walters, visited the Southeastern New Hampshire Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services facility Monday to see how the state is combating substance-abuse. He also spoke about the government's new drug voucher program, designed to make treatment more widely available to addicts than it is now.

"There are living miracles here and in every community to show there's a way out," Walters told patients and staff.

Many in the 40-person audience said they were honored to have Walters visit the facility.

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KITTERY, Maine - If 11-year-old Ashley Ridlon experiences peer pressure to use drugs or alcohol, she's going to picture Sgt. Russell French's face.

That image, she says, will help her to say "no."

Ridlon met French through the D.A.R.E. - Drug Abuse Resistance Education - program. Nearly 100 fifth-graders from Frisbee School graduated from the program Friday.

Students, teachers, parent volunteers and five Kittery police officers celebrated the graduation at Fort Foster. Police officers flipped burgers while the students, wearing their newly earned D.A.R.E. T-shirts, gobbled up barbecued grub.

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KENTUCKIAN WANTS TO PUSH FOR LEGALIZING POT IN 'FREE STATE'

CONCORD, N.H. - The movement to bring thousands of people to New Hampshire to change it into a "free state" with fewer laws and smaller government is attracting all sorts, including a 20-year-old Kentucky man who is walking here in search of a life free from marijuana prosecution.

Randall Wolfe of Corbin calls himself a dedicated member of the Free State Project. He drives to his job as a manager trainee at a local Taco Bell with the project's Web site spray-painted on the hood of his 1997 Dodge Neon. The New Hampshire state motto, "Live Free or Die," is along the side. He spends his spare time as a Kentucky recruiter for the project.

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When walking around campus, you might hear people passing by, telling their friends, "it was like I was living an episode of 'The Loony Tunes'" or "all we could do was cough and laugh for 20 minutes; the music stopped for like 10 minutes, and we didn't even notice."

In our culture, the use of drugs is no longer taboo. Conversations about smoking, tripping or doing lines no longer take place behind closed doors but are made openly in public places such as the dining halls.

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EXETER - A fund-raiser co-sponsored by Exeter police and Exeter Pizza Hut dares families to spend quality time together all while "Helping Friends" and encouraging kids to make healthy choices.

And students from Lincoln Street School will be playing an integral part in the initiative.

This spring, LSS students will be selling Pizza Hut "Helping Friends" value cards to family and friends throughout the remainder of the school year. The cards provide patrons with the value of six coupons for a free, medium, one-topping pizza with the purchase of a large pizza and six coupons for $5 off any purchase of $15. For every $8 card sold, $5 of the proceeds will benefit Exeter's Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program.

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PORTSMOUTH - A group of about 50 parents Tuesday night shared poignant stories of their children's struggles with drugs and urged the Portsmouth School Board and administration to take action in enforcing a drug policy at Portsmouth High School that students will respect.

"My hope is that, after today, we won't have to have another meeting again," said parent Bob Montville, who organized the meeting at the Comfort Inn to bring the issue of drugs at PHS further out in the open one week after the board held its own meeting to address the issue.

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PORTSMOUTH - Wanting to stay out of a "local political issue," state police have turned down a request to send a K-9 officer and drug-detecting dog to tonight's parents meeting regarding the Portsmouth High School drug policy.

"This issue was examined to be a local political issue between the School Board and this parents group," said Lt. David Kelley of the New Hampshire State Police Troop A. "It's best dealt with at the local level."

Parents requested the dog come to the 7 p.m. meeting at the Comfort Inn on Lafayette Road for a demonstration on how it is used to search for drugs in schools. The School Board held a public meeting last week to address concerns about the school's drug policy.

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SEABROOK - Passage of a petitioned warrant article mandating random drug-and-alcohol testing for all town employees, including volunteers who serve on town boards, raised a host of questions Wednesday at the Board of Selectmen's meeting.

The warrant article, which passed 1,521 votes to 464, is now a town ordinance, Town Manager Fred Welch said.

Volunteers serving on boards such as the Planning Board and the Budget Committee will be subject to the new ordinance, said Welch. So will those who volunteer to coach sport teams or who teach classes at the Seabrook Recreation Department.

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MERRIMACK -- The town's police station will soon have a new fitness center - -- and it will be paid for by drug dealers, not taxpayers.

On Thursday, selectmen voted unanimously to release $27,015 from the town's deferred revenue fund, where money accumulated through drug-related seizures is deposited.

Combined with a $1,985 grant from Crimeline, a local crime tip telephone line, the funds will renovate an on-site gym and build two storage sheds at the rear of the police station.

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All Seabrook town officials, employees and volunteers are subject to random testing for alcohol and drugs with the passage of a petitioned town meeting warrant article last week. The mandated testing also applies to volunteers who serve on town committees and boards.

"I can't tell you what extent of drug testing there is in cities and towns and school districts," said John Andrews, executive director of the New Hampshire Municipal Association, "but (testing) is not illegal under state law.

"A lot of private employers do it and municipalities can. You can test anyone as long as it's random," Andrews said.

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SEABROOK, N.H. It's tough to find anyone in Seabrook who can publicly explain why there is a move to have all town workers and volunteers randomly tested for drugs and alcohol.

But if voters approve Article 38 on the March 9 Town Meeting warrant, all town workers and volunteer board members will be subject to random drug and alcohol tests. The citizens petition, signed by 78 people, calls for the testing of ''full-time and part-time employees, including the Board of Selectmen and all other elected officials, appointed supervisors/department heads, town manager, town clerks and secretaries, town fire and police personnel." Opinion in town is sharply divided. Critics say random drug testing would be invasive, expensive, and a deterrent to people who volunteer on town boards. ''It's an invasion of personal privacy," said Conservation Commission chairwoman Sue Foote. ''If you're that zoned out on alcohol or drugs, it's going to show up in your work anyway."

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SEABROOK - One man, not yet 30, told of turning to prostitution to get money for drugs; a young woman said she got hooked on heroin in three days, losing her four-bedroom home and everything else she owned to get high.

Michael Taylor, of Seabrook, said he was an addict before he was 18 years old.

"I'm almost 30 years old, and have nothing to show for my life," he told the crowd of more than 100 people who turned out for a drug forum at the Seabrook Community Center Wednesday night.

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NEWFIELDS - The Newfields Elementary School has added a new member to its community. The DARE program was launched on Monday afternoon to the delight of 37 fifth-grade children.

Last week Cpl. Chris Hutchins, of the Newfields Police Department, was presented with a $415 check from the Newmarket Masonic Lodge to help with costs associated with the program.

On Monday, the first-time DARE officer stood in front of eager students in Mrs. Bzdafka's classroom. They were more excited to see the officer than most people he encounters through their driver's side window, although the officer was tested when principal Dennis Dobe came over the intercom and canceled recess due to the frigid weather.

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EXETER - Fifth-graders in the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program aren't upset when they're told they have to stay after school - they volunteer. It's not detention or the principal's office they're going to. It's usually the gym, and it's simply to have fun.

Last Tuesday, for example, a crowd of students arrived at the Exeter Bowling Lanes on Columbus Avenue for an afternoon of bowling, thanks to owner Rob Ficara.

Once a week, students going through the D.A.R.E. program have a chance to take part in the after-school program. The program has been funded in recent years through an annual donation from the Exeter New Car Dealer's Association, according to Exeter Police Detective Frank Winterer, who teaches D.A.R.E. It costs about $4,000 per year to run D.A.R.E. and the after-school program, which serves about 200 students annually.

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