Key Points Background: Law enforcement agencies last week seized 11 expensive houses in New Hampshire that were being used to grow marijuana. Conclusion: These pot growing operations are disturbing because they show that organized crime has managed to gain a foothold in the Granite State. Until now, marijuana growing in New Hampshire has largely been a garden variety crime. The weather just isn't conducive to the high-intensity illegal agriculture that has drawn drug gangs to the national forests and parks of warmer states. But last week people woke up, and what they smelled wasn't roses. [continues 544 words]
CONCORD (AP) - A massive marijuana-growing enterprise involving about a dozen houses and thousands of plants worth tens of millions of dollars wasn't just the state's largest. State and federal law enforcement authorities say the bust also represents the movement south of a Canadian trend of sophisticated indoor growing operations working out of middle-to-affluent residential neighborhoods. "This is a trend we had been seeing in Canada for as long as I have been a U.S. attorney," Tom Colantuono, New Hampshire's federal prosecutor since 2001, said Thursday. "We were very concerned that this might move south across the border and the fact that it has is very disturbing." [continues 182 words]
State officials held a press conference in Stratham last week to talk about the efforts to combat the expansion of methamphetamine use in New Hampshire. They said they are at the front line of the battle, "doing everything possible to get a foothold on meth before it becomes a problem." On the same day at another press conference just miles away in Seabrook, it was announced police had made a bust netting the largest amount of crystal methamphetamine ever seized in New England. [continues 393 words]
SEABROOK - A drug bust in Seabrook has netted the largest cache of crystal methamphetamine ever seized in New England. The 12 pounds of crystal methamphetamine was produced in "super labs" in Mexico, said U.S. Attorney Thomas Colantuono on Thursday. It was brought from Mexico to Georgia to Seabrook for distribution in New England, an open market for methamphetamine, a highly addictive manufactured drug that gives a quick high. Drug Enforcement Administration officers and Seabrook police arrested two men in front of Lowe's on Route 1 on Oct. 24. The meth was allegedly hidden in their motor vehicle. [continues 366 words]
One of our most infamous contemporary laws is the 100-1 difference in sentencing between crack cocaine and powder cocaine. Under federal drug laws, prison sentences are usually tied to the quantity of drugs the defendant trafficked. For example, selling 5,000 grams of powder cocaine (about a briefcase full) gets a mandatory 10-year prison sentence, but so does selling only 50 grams of crack cocaine (the weight of a candy bar). Working for the House Judiciary Committee in 1986, I wrote the House bill that was the basis for that law. We made some terrible mistakes. [continues 672 words]
Just before Election Day, I fueled up my regular car, then the diesel. Two days before, I had ordered my next ton of corn for the corn stove. The price of feed corn had risen since summer by about 10 percent. The unleaded gasoline going into the car contained 10 percent ethanol derived from corn. Why was the price of gasoline so low compared to last year when the cost of a major component had risen? There are now two grades of whole corn: the corn that farmers feed livestock and stove corn. Stove corn isn't food-quality, has a higher btu output, has a little more cob content and is dustier. It costs less than feed corn. [continues 141 words]
This is not about the use of pot. But did Gov. Lynch authorize the National Guard to be called out to help confiscate and haul away the pot plants found in the home in Epsom (Monitor, Nov. 4)? I understand that 1,400 marijuana plants is a lot to haul away, no matter the size of them. However, the constitution stipulates that the National Guard shall be used to help the police only in case of natural disasters or to protect private property such as riots or mass lawlessness. [continues 66 words]
NORTH HAMPTON - North Hampton School students came to school wearing red from head to toe, and, no, they weren't trying to rush the holiday season. Students participated in Focus Day, the grand finale of National Red Ribbon Week, an anti-drug campaign held the last full week of October each year. Students and teachers were given a red ribbon wristband and everyone was encouraged to wear red on Thursday of that week to represent their commitment to a drug-free community. [continues 343 words]
Nearly 1,400 Marijuana Plants Found In the biggest marijuana bust in the state's history, the police found nearly 1,400 marijuana plants worth up to $7 million inside a vacant Epsom house Thursday. The police brought 1,396 plants out of the basement at 35 Woodcote Drive, the state police said. They also seized grow lights, tools, industrial fans and transformer boxes used to divert electricity to the house, the police said. Aside from the basement and closets full of equipment, the rest of the house was empty, said Sgt. Ellen Arcieri of the New Hampshire State Police. [continues 344 words]
KINGSTON -- Are Rockingham County and the state of New Hampshire losing the war on drugs? Nine panelists, with differing experiences in drug treatment, enforcement and surveillance, attempted to address that question on Friday at Sanborn Regional High School. Rather than giving a simple yes or no answer to a complex question, the public forum, attended by about 50 people, including six local state representatives and senators, focused on treatment as an underutilized but effective weapon in the ongoing battle. The keynote speaker, Dr. Nova Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), offered promising statistics and findings in a prerecorded video address. According to NIDA research, she said, drug addicts who receive treatment for their disease are seven times more likely to be drug-free after three years than those receiving no treatment. [continues 872 words]
Free Kits for Parents Seen As Preventing Abuse In a program thought to be the first in New Hampshire's Seacoast, the Exeter Police Department is providing free drug test kits to parents who want to know if their children are using illegal drugs. On Wednesday , the department made available 50 kits to test for alcohol, marijuana, ecstasy, cocaine, methamphetamine, and opiates through simple saliva or urine tests. The results are available in minutes. "We're giving parents another tool they can use to fight drug abuse before it becomes a problem," Exeter Police Chief Richard Kane said last week. [continues 546 words]
Gayle Brady didn't hesitate to take her daughter to the Kingston police station for a drug test. She had an open communication with her daughter, Caitlyn, who felt comfortable enough to talk to her mom about the drugs she had tried. So when the 18-year-old died of a heroin overdose in March, Gayle was in shock. "I was under the impression that things were starting to change," Gayle said. "I tried to be on top of everything that was going on. I thought I could always be one step ahead of her. [continues 832 words]
The use of methamphetamine is spreading like a California wildfire eastward across the United States, but officials here in New Hampshire are working hard to dig a trench to keep the flames of this epidemic at bay. Members of the state Department of Health and Human Services, the federal Drug Enforcement Agency, the U.S. Attorney's office, the state attorney general's staff, members of state and local law enforcement, and educators are teaming up with local businesses in hopes of keeping this menacing drug problem from reaching the epic proportions it has in other parts of the country. [continues 382 words]
Plymouth - Community leaders from the Upper Valley and throughout Grafton County heard how a drug court could make a difference in turning around the lives of drug addicts, their families and citizens who are victimized by drug-related crimes. "With this we have a good chance to change the paradigm so we don't see as much recidivism," said Grafton County Superior Court Judge Jean Burling, who attended a luncheon yesterday and heard from a New Jersey prosecutor and a drug defendant whose life was changed by the Orange County drug court program. [continues 665 words]
"I lost kids I went to high school with; kids from Portsmouth High, Dover High, Kittery are dead. Most of my friends ... of the ones close to me, six." Those are the words of a 30-year-old man from Portsmouth. His friends were not killed in a war or in traffic accidents. They were killed by heroin. And Steve (not his real name), says the use of heroin has not declined. If anything, it has gotten worse. Rockingham County Attorney Jim Reams agrees. It can probably be found at every high school in the Seacoast, he said. [continues 565 words]
There is terrorist activity going on in Nashua, and it's aimed at our teens. Hijackings are occurring every day. These activities are happening in the brains of our teens. Our teens are having their neuroreceptor sites hijacked by psychoactive substances. This may sound like an updated version of the infamous H.G. Wells broadcast of "The War of the Worlds," but rest assured, what I'm describing is for real. Teens are much more vulnerable to the effects of alcohol and other drugs. Their brains and other anatomical systems are still in the process of development. Their sensitivity to alcohol and other drugs is more acute as a result. This means the addictive process happens faster and with less frequency of use and quantity of use than in adults. [continues 707 words]
County Attorney Jim Reams sees the March death of 18-year-old Caitlyn Brady as an example of the need to stop drugs from coming into Rockingham County. "With Interstate 95, Interstate 93 and Route 125 drugs are coming out of Massachusetts and into New Hampshire," Reams said during a press conference Sept. 1. "There is a constant flow of drugs into New Hampshire." Reams hosted a press conference at the Rockingham County Superior Court to discuss the cases of Brady of Kingston, who died in March from a heroin overdose, and Ryan Scamman-Rawson, 18, of Stratham, who died in April after swallowing Oxycodone and overdosing. [continues 691 words]
BRENTWOOD, N.H. - Months of work by an undercover police officer helped authorities catch an accused drug dealer and his driver as part of their probe into the overdose death of an 18-year-old woman, according to Kingston police Chief Donald Briggs. One of Kingston's four undercover operatives had been buying drugs from 23-year-old [Name redacted], Kingston, even before former Sanborn Regional High School student Caitlyn Brady died of a heroin overdose last March, Briggs said. [Name redacted] faces a felony charge of providing a controlled drug that later proved fatal. No one in the case has been charged with sale of narcotics at this point in the investigation. [continues 482 words]
BRENTWOOD - Caitlyn Brady's former boyfriend could face life in prison for providing the heroin that killed her and hiding the evidence, according to authorities. "It's malicious disregard for the consequences of drugs like heroin," said Jim Reams, the county attorney. Two men were arraigned yesterday on charges they were directly involved in a heroin overdose that, on March 15, killed Brady, 18, a former Sanborn Regional High School student. Two other local men, arrested at the same time on Tuesday, face secret indictments on "heroin-related" charges, Reams said. Those charges will be made public in the next few days, he said. [continues 982 words]
PORTSMOUTH -- Flanked by area police chiefs, Rockingham County Attorney Jim Reams vowed Friday to make those responsible for supplying drugs to two Seacoast teens who died from overdoses pay for their crime with significant jail sentences. "We're not going to forget these kids that died," said Reams, adding the flow of drugs to the county is constant. "And we're going to do everything we can to prosecute these people." On March 14, 18-year-old Kingston resident Caitlyn Brady died of a heroin overdose. Exactly one month later, 18-year-old Stratham resident Ryan Scamman-Rawson died from an Oxycodone overdose. Police have since tracked the suspected suppliers of those drugs, and this month, a grand jury indicted four Seacoast residents on drug charges that carry a maximum sentence of life in prison. [continues 418 words]
BRENTWOOD -- The moment when [Name redacted] of Newton allegedly provided heroin to his girlfriend, Caitlyn Brady, he took away "a smile that would melt your heart," said the victim's mother. [Name redacted], 21, Newton, was arraigned in Rockingham County Superior Court in Brentwood Wednesday for allegedly dispensing a controlled drug -- death resulting, and falsifying physical evidence. [Name redacted] was indicted Aug. 1 by a Superior Court grand jury on these charges. Caitlyn Brady, 18, of Kingston, died March 15 of a heroin overdose at [Name redacted]'s home. [continues 762 words]
Brentwood - Four men who investigators say are responsible for the overdose death of an 18-year-old Kingston woman March 15 could face life in prison if prosecutors can prove the charges against them. Secret indictments against three men were revealed yesterday, in connection with the overdose death of Caitlyn D. Brady, 18. Prosecutors said a fourth man would be arraigned this morning. Brady died of an accidental heroin overdose, allegedly administered by her then-boyfriend, [Name redacted], 21, Newton. [Name redacted] was charged with one count of dispensing a controlled drug, resulting in a death, which carries a potential life sentence. [Name redacted] was also charged with one count of falsifying evidence, for allegedly trying to hide the syringe used to inject the drugs, in a dumpster. [continues 498 words]
BRENTWOOD -- The moment when boyfriend [Name redacted] of Newton allegedly provided heroin to girlfriend Caitlyn Brady, he took away "a smile that would melt your heart," said the victim's mother. [Name redacted], 21, Newton was arraigned in Rockingham County Superior Court in Brentwood Wednesday for allegedly dispensing a controlled drug, death resulting, and falsifying physical evidence. [Name redacted] was indicted on Aug. 1 by a Superior Court grand jury on these charges. [Name redacted] was the boyfriend of 18-year-old Caitlyn Brady of Kingston, who died March 15 of a heroin overdose at [Name redacted]'s home. [continues 794 words]
Screening An Option For Students' Parents Winnisquam Regional Middle School will give home drug-testing kits to parents at an open house this month. Distribution of the kits, donated by an Arizona nonprofit called NotMYKid, will follow a slide show advising parents on how to talk to their kids about drugs, according to Dave Tryon, the district's "chemical-free adviser." Also on the agenda for the back-to-school open house are a spaghetti supper and parent-teacher meetings. Tryon said he wasn't sure about the drug tests, but he liked that the kits are optional. He said the kits can be used as tools for parents to talk to their kids about drugs - and as an excuse for kids who don't want to try drugs. [continues 414 words]
HUDSON - Superintendent Randy Bell is drafting a policy that would allow the police drug-sniffing dog to be used at Alvirne High School, he said. The issue has come up before but was revisited at a school board meeting last week, Bell said. The discussion came two weeks after The Telegraph published an article detailing the concerns of a parent who believes the school has a drug problem and wants the dog to be allowed inside for random searches. According to board member David Bouchard, police have offered to make the dog available in the past for school searches, but high school administrators haven't taken advantage until now. [continues 923 words]
Roxanne and Barry Fritz, whose daughter Bethany died of a heroin overdose in June 2004, have filed a lawsuit in York County Superior Court against a family in whose home Bethany spent the day before her death. The Fritzes allege Amanda Corey, a friend with whom Bethany was staying on the night of June 26, 2004, and parents Cynthia and Eugene Corey acted in a "careless and negligent" manner, leading to Bethany's death. According to the lawsuit, Bethany, 17, spent that night at the Coreys' with Amanda, also 17. According to criminal documents filed in connection with the case against Bethany's boyfriend, Scott Fisher, Fisher gave Bethany heroin that resulted in her death. Fisher was sentenced in connection with those charges on Monday. [continues 226 words]
When Joann Auclair found a stash of pot in her teenage son's bedroom, she immediately wanted to know where it came from. She didn't expect her son to say that drugs are always available for sale at Alvirne High School. Marijuana and illegal prescriptions are especially easy to get, Auclair said the teenager confessed. Alarmed by the news, Auclair said she sat down with a guidance counselor to find out if the Hudson police drug dog could be used to search the school. The counselor told her the idea had been discussed, but administrators and the school board wouldn't have it, she said. [continues 575 words]
When a child is arrested inside a Nashua school, chances are it's for one of three reasons: fighting with a classmate, getting caught with drugs or acting out of control. Assault, drug violations and disorderly conduct are overwhelmingly the most common offenses inside the city's public high schools and middle schools – or at least the crimes that staff and police are picking up on. However, students are arrested at some city schools more frequently than others. Five years worth of school arrest statistics from the Nashua Police Department reveal which schools have the highest arrest rates, what students are doing to get arrested and which crimes almost never take place in city schools. [continues 771 words]
Re "N.H. overdose deaths skyrocket" on page B5 of the June 25 Sunday Monitor: As the amount and frequency of alcohol use increase, the physical ability to tolerate the drug also increases. Impairment and health problems logically ensue. The use of any illicit drug is a choice that places the user at risk for health and impairment problems. One terrible outcome is physical addiction, but a person can also abuse alcohol or other drugs one time and experience a life-altering impairment problem, like a car accident that takes a life. [continues 266 words]
PORTSMOUTH -- The school district hopes to expand its search-and-seizure policy by spelling out that students can expect their cars, lockers and desks to be searched at any time, and that police canines will be used on school property. The School Board's policy committee reviewed a draft of the new rules Monday. The current policy is brief and addresses inspection of student lockers only to safeguard students' "well-being." Assistant City Attorney Kathleen Dwyer presented the committee with a draft of the expanded policy, which will go before the School Board for approval at a later date. [continues 278 words]
It's long past time the Portsmouth School Board began to deal realistically with the problem of drugs in city schools. That's why we are pleased to hear the board's policy committee is considering broadening the current search-and-seizure rules. The new policy would not only allow for searches of student lockers, as is currently the case, but would add student vehicles and other items to the list of things police or school officials could view without the consent of the students involved. [continues 282 words]
CONCORD, N.H. --A steep rise in drug overdose deaths has state health officials worried. Dr. Thomas Andrew, the state's chief medical examiner, said his records show 39 drug overdoses in 1995 compared with 153 in 2005. "There was a time when we thought drug overdose deaths were going to exceed traffic deaths in New Hampshire, but drivers sort of sunk to the challenge," Andrew said, noting the increase in motor vehicle fatalities, which hit 171 in 2004. Opiates remain the leading cause of fatal overdoses, and methadone has become the single biggest killer, topping even heroin, Andrew said. [continues 290 words]
Drug-overdose deaths have climbed sharply in New Hampshire over the last 10 years, and they show no sign of slacking. Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Thomas Andrew has compiled statistics on fatal drug overdoses in the state for several years, and his records show drug overdoses have risen steadily, from 39 in 1995 to 153 last year. "There is a 150 to 175 percent increase in drug-related deaths over the past five years in New Hampshire," Andrew said. "There was a time when we thought drug overdose deaths were going to exceed traffic deaths in New Hampshire, but drivers sort of sunk to the challenge," and motor vehicle fatalities have increased, as well, Andrew said. (There were 171 traffic-related deaths in the state in 2004.) [continues 965 words]
OUR ELECTED officials say they are just like the rest of us. But that's a myth. "The king can do no wrong" is often closer to the truth. Consider drug use. In 1992, when Presidential candidate Bill Clinton was asked about his, he said, "I have never broken the laws of my country." It was one of those lawyerly language tricks, which was revealed when a reporter later asked him about laws in other countries. "I have never broken a state law," he said. "When I was in England, I experimented with marijuana a time or two, and I didn't like it and didn't inhale." [continues 566 words]
To the Editor: According to letter writer Larry Seguin, of Lisbon, N.Y., our hearts should bleed for the "victims of the war on drugs (aka drug users)."Seguin then expresses agreement with letter writer Kirk Muse of Mesa, Ariz., (to whom I responded previously) that the current "medical marijuana" debate is too limited, that marijuana should be legalized for recreational use as well. The agenda of a self-indulgent and muddle-headed minority is exposed for what it is in these letters. That both these writers believe drug users are a "victims group" comparable to the true victims of the Holocaust (as Muse has flatly stated, and for which Seguin has expressed support) displays a complete detachment from reality. [continues 118 words]
CONCORD - Gov. John Lynch signed a bill into law Thursday establishing stiff penalties for making and using methamphetamine and for possessing common household chemicals used to make the highly addictive drug. "We are seeing an increase in the production, sale and use of crystal methamphetamine here in New Hampshire," said Lynch. "Left unchecked, the growth in crystal methamphetamine production and use presents a serious threat to the health and safety of our citizens." Over the past two years, police have raided 15 meth labs in the state, according to Senior Assistant Attorney General Jane Young. [continues 545 words]
CONCORD, N.H. --Gov. John Lynch signed a bill into law Thursday establishing stiff penalties for making and using methamphetamine and for possessing common household chemicals used to make the highly addictive drug. "We are seeing an increase in the production, sale and use of crystal methamphetamine here in New Hampshire," said Lynch. "Left unchecked, the growth in crystal methamphetamine production and use presents a serious threat to the health and safety of our citizens." Over the past two years, police have raided 15 meth labs in the state, according to Senior Assistant Attorney General Jane Young. [continues 545 words]
CONCORD - A bill that imposes tougher penalties on people convicted of making the drug methamphetamine was approved by lawmakers Thursday and is headed to Gov. John Lynch. The bill sets a prison term of up to 30 years and a fine of up to $500,000, with even longer sentences for repeat offenders. It also allows the court to order restitution be paid when officials or property owners have to clean up the toxic chemicals involved in the drug's manufacture. [continues 69 words]
AMHERST -- One in three Souhegan High School students say they have smoked marijuana or had sex, and two in three say they have used alcohol. But less than 10 percent of the parents of students at the school showed up to talk about those numbers Tuesday night. About 30 parents attended the discussion about the results of the 2005 National Youth Risk Behavior Survey held at the school. The survey was taken by 837 students during school last year, which is about 81 percent of the student body. No students attended Tuesday's discussion. [continues 404 words]
Portsmouth educators won't be doing kids or parents any favors if they invite drug-sniffing police dogs into schools. These days, zero tolerance poses a greater threat than drugs. According to the Monitoring the Future survey, more than half of all high school seniors have tried an illicit drug. Denying a majority of the nation's youth an education and the chance to grow up to become productive members of society is not in America's best interest. Most students outgrow their youthful indiscretions involving drugs. An arrest and criminal record, on the other hand, can be life-shattering. After admitting to smoking pot (but not inhaling), former President Bill Clinton opened himself up to "soft on drugs" criticism. And thousands of Americans have paid the price in the form of shattered lives. [continues 100 words]
PORTSMOUTH - With a handful of high profile student drug arrests this year, the School Board and Police Commission met Monday to discuss police presence at city schools. The group met in non-public session with City Attorney Bob Sullivan and Assistant City Attorney Kathleen Dwyer to talk about police involvement and drug enforcement, Sullivan said. The meeting was initiated by the Police Commission. "There may be policy changes which arise from this discussion," Sullivan said, before adding that he could not elaborate because it was a nonpublic meeting. He said any changes would have to be approved at subsequent public meetings. [continues 328 words]
BROOKLINE -- If Alex Duhaime did drugs, he might not be able to play basketball, lacrosse, football or baseball. That is one of the things Duhaime, 11, said he learned from the Drug Abuse Resistance Education program at his school. "I learned that you should resist drugs and they can harm you in many ways," he said. He and the rest of his fifth-grade class at Capt. Samuel Douglass Academy graduated from the program April 20 with about 150 of their friends and family members watching. They promised Brookline [continues 257 words]
Thanks go to the Students for Sensible Drug Policy for compiling statistics about the number of college students affected by a 1998 law that suspends federal financial aid for students convicted of drug offenses. The numbers don't so much provide convincing evidence of the law's stupidity - that was clear from the start - but rather of the toll that it is taking. According to the information released by the student organization, more than 200,000 students have been denied federal grants, loans and work-study aid in the last six years because of the law. Included in that total are more than 500 New Hampshire and 200 Vermont students. [continues 509 words]
The Goal Is To Replace Jail With Counseling A 16-year-old Concord teenager on probation for marijuana use was back in court last week. He had missed court for three weeks in a row, skipped two classes and, after four months of sobriety, had smoked pot again. But instead of sending the teen to the Youth Detention Center in Manchester, the judge gave him a date book to help him remember appointments. The teen's probation officer vowed to help him find reliable transportation to court, told him to start calling her every night and set up an appointment with a therapist. The probation officer also asked if the teen could be rewarded with a sobriety coin, often given out in Alcoholics Anonymous groups, for not smoking that week. [continues 1320 words]
Another View HOW MANY New Hampshire residents know that Senate Bill 268, the governor's proposal to raise the dropout age to 18, has already been approved by the Senate and is on its way to a House vote tomorrow? If this legislation passes and takes effect in September 2008, the only communities that will receive funding for alternative education programs will be Manchester and Nashua, for a total of $1.2 million over two years. Along the way to this bill becoming law, few legislators have spoken to the students and the people in the "trenches," who are the administrators, teachers and guidance professionals in our schools. If they had spoken to us, they would discover that the dropout rate would actually increase because every other community besides Manchester and Nashua will fund this mandate based on local control. [continues 378 words]
PORTSMOUTH - The season-only clause in the high school's athletic contract means another student facing drug charges will remain on the boys lacrosse team. Travis R. Crosby, 17, of 419 Greenleaf Ave. was one of four students arrested last month in connection with the alleged sale of marijuana to a police informant. Crosby was charged with possession of controlled drugs in a motor vehicle. The sophomore's position on the lacrosse team was not affected because the alleged infraction happened before the season started, coach Chris McGuirk said Wednesday. [continues 514 words]
PORTSMOUTH - A Portsmouth High School student walked out of court Monday with a prison sentence and walked onto the baseball field later that day. Matthew Anderson, a 17-year-old junior, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to sell marijuana charges at Portsmouth District Court on Monday and will serve a week in jail this summer. Later that evening, he struck out four batters in two hitless innings, helping the Clippers close out a 6-3 season-opening win over Pinkerton Academy. This came four months after the School Board voted to cancel the high school swim team's season in the aftermath of a swim-a-thon fund-raiser when some of the 43 students on the team drank alcohol. [continues 385 words]
CONCORD, N.H. --A methadone clinic planned for vacant office space is close to receiving state and federal approval and could be open by the end of the month. The clinic would treat people addicted to heroin, oxycontin and prescription drugs such as percocet. Neighboring business owners, even city planning, zoning and health officials, said they were not notified about the plan. The clinic was not required to go before the city council or other city boards because the property already was zoned for a medical facility that provides out-patient care. [continues 82 words]
HAMPTON - The results of the Winnacunnet High School Youth Risk Behavior Survey have prompted school officials to look at the health curriculum to see if they can do a better job teaching about the dangers of drugs and alcohol. The survey, which was taken last year by high school students, reveals that 71 percent of students have tried alcohol, while 42.6 percent of students smoked marijuana. It also reveals more students are sexually active, and 39.9 percent of students had sex with more than one person in the last three months. [continues 551 words]
Inside New Hampshire
