FALL RIVER - Following national trends, more city youths are experimenting with marijuana use, according to a survey of middle and high school students. The survey of high school students found that the percentage reporting marijuana use within the past 30 days increased by 9 percentage points from a 2008 level of 22 percent. Among individual grade levels, the largest increase was among those in the junior class, with an increase from 24.1 percent in 2008 to 40.2 percent this year. [continues 563 words]
FALL RIVER - Armed with the results of surveys related to health and risk behaviors conducted at the city's high and middle schools, the BOLD Coalition is considering the next steps to make Fall River a healthier place. With the surveys showing increased use of marijuana, among other concerns, Staff Director Craig Gaspard said BOLD is planning to create a series of public service announcements aimed at prescription drug abuse. Gaspard said he hopes to have the advertisements run on local radio and public access television stations. Outreach could be expanded to other stations if grant funding can be secured. [continues 394 words]
DARTMOUTH -- In arguing their sides of the debate on legalizing marijuana, two experts weren't exactly blowing smoke. Instead Steven Hager, editor-in-chief of High Times magazine and Robert Stutman, a former special agent in charge of the Drug Enforcement Agency's New York City office, provided students at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth with arguments on an issue that has been waged for years. Hager, playing to a group of strong marijuana proponents, started off the night telling the crowd there are five good reasons for the legalization of the drug. [continues 413 words]
FALL RIVER -- While the goal is usually to keep drugs out of schools, that wasn't the case Wednesday night at B.M.C. Durfee High School. Filling out a table in the middle of the Tradewinds Restaurant sat an array of narcotics from crack cocaine to heroin to marijuana, but in this case no one was going to get in trouble. Instead the drugs were there, along with Detective Andrew Crook of the police Vice and Intelligence Unit, to give parents a crash course on what they look like and the types of paraphernalia that typically accompany those narcotics. [continues 410 words]
DARTMOUTH -- The adventure of going to college is one layered with pitfalls While there are students who are able to control themselves and maintain a lifestyle of moderation, there is also the other end of the spectrum filled with students who binge drink, rely on drugs to relax or gamble away every penny. For those students, the AdCare North Dartmouth Outpatient Clinic at 88 Faunce Corner Road is offering a College Substance Abuse Education Group. Administered by Director of Outpatient Services Alicen J. McGowan, the group began as a pilot program in September with six University of Massachusetts Dartmouth students and grew this January, with the start of a new semester, to 12 students from UMass Dartmouth, Providence College, Bristol Community College and Massasoit Community College. Enrollment in the program is ongoing. [continues 374 words]
FALL RIVER -- At the urging of Mayor Edward M. Lambert Jr., the School Committee directed Superintendent Nicholas A. Fischer to recommend a policy that will direct the School Department on how to handle issues of substance abuse within the district. Lambert, who serves as the committee chairman, called for the move following the revelation last week that former Slade School Principal Frederick L. Cippolini admitted to police in October that he was a habitual crack cocaine user. Since his admission, Cippolini has been placed on leave with pay and is scheduled to retire in June. [continues 450 words]
FALL RIVER -- Two days after first reading in The Herald News that their children's principal had been quietly suspended a month ago for abusing crack cocaine, Slade School parents reacted with venom, slamming both the School Department and the mayor's office for the alleged cover-up. "We were lied to for months about this principal, and then we had to learn about our children's safety in a newspaper," shouted Sheila Bardsley, the mother of a fourth-grader at the school. "The mayor and the school people kept this hush-hush. I blame them all." [continues 1101 words]
WESTPORT -- Amid a wave of controversy, the needle exchange program approved by the Board of Selectmen appears headed toward its death as the group will revisit the issue during a meeting this afternoon. Board of Selectmen Chairwoman Elizabeth Collins said she will raise the issue during a meeting scheduled for today at 4 p.m., likely leading to a rescinding of the vote. Also clouding the issue, which could make the board's vote unnecessary, is the matter of the lease for the property at 909 State Road. Collins said she believes the owner of the property will not lease the building for the program's use. [continues 614 words]
FALL RIVER -- With another Massachusetts city discussing the merits of needle exchange programs, the debate over creating a similar program here continues. Monday night, the agenda for the Springfield City Council's meeting included a discussion on implementing a pilot needle exchange program that would include a caveat: Those who participate in the program would be subject to mandatory drug testing. Currently, the only communities in the state that offer a needle exchange program are Boston, Cambridge, Provincetown and Northampton. Mayor Edward M. Lambert Jr., a longtime opponent of needle exchange programs, will continue to fight the idea on the homefront. [continues 398 words]
