SALEM - Superintendent Herbert Levine put out the call for volunteers yesterday to serve on a special task force that will consider whether the schools should begin random drug tests of students.

Levine intends to move quickly with the initiative, he said. He is hopeful the Superintendent's Drug Testing Task Force can begin work by the first week of March and have something for the School Committee to consider by April. The task force will have about 16 people, he said. And although it will be up to the superintendent to decide who will serve, Levine said he is not looking to stack the board in either direction.

[continues 546 words]

NORTH ANDOVER - More than 500 people packed a gymnasium at Merrimack College yesterday, trying to make sense of the area's OxyContin and heroin epidemic. The turnout was so overwhelming that some people had to be turned away at the door. "It really shows that people realize the problem we have," said Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett, "and it really shows a community response to the problem."

The event, the first of its kind to address the widespread abuse of OxyContin and heroin among young people, was organized by Blodgett and Sheriff Frank Cousins. Both men said they were pleased the room was filled with people from many backgrounds - parents, teachers, mayors, probation officers and doctors - not just police.

[continues 639 words]

NORTH ANDOVER - More than 500 people packed a gymnasium at Merrimack College yesterday, driven to learn more about the county's heroin and prescription drug epidemic.

There was so much interest in the event that some people were turned away at the door. "It really shows that people realize the problem we have, and it really shows a community response to the problem," said District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett, who planned the event with Sheriff Frank Cousins of Newburyport. Both Blodgett and Cousins said they were pleased the room was filled with people from a variety of backgrounds - parents, teachers, principals and doctors - not just police.

[continues 828 words]

NORTH ANDOVER - More than 500 people packed a gymnasium at Merrimack College yesterday, trying to make sense of the area's OxyContin and heroin epidemic. The turnout was overwhelming and some people had to be turned away at the door. "It really shows that people realize the problem we have," said Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett, "and it really shows a community response to the problem."

The event, the first of its kind to address the widespread abuse of OxyContin and heroin among young people, was organized by Blodgett and Sheriff Frank Cousins. Both men said they were pleased the room was filled with people from many backgrounds - parents, teachers, mayors, probation officers and doctors - not just police.

[continues 636 words]

NORTH ANDOVER -- More than 500 people packed a gymnasium at Merrimack College yesterday, trying to make sense of the area's OxyContin and heroin epidemic. The turn-out was so overwhelming that some people had to be turned away at the door. "It really shows that people realize the problem we have," said Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett, "and it really shows a community response to the problem."

The event, the first of its kind to address the widespread abuse of OxyContin and heroin among young people, was organized by Blodgett and Sheriff Frank Cousins. Both men said they were pleased the room was filled with people from many backgrounds -- parents, teachers, mayors, probation officers and doctors -- not just police.

[continues 639 words]

Drug testing is becoming more common on the national level.

The most common drugs tested for were marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamine, opiates and alcohol. A national survey of athletic directors conducted last year by the National Federation of High School Associations, of which the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association is a member, found:

* About 13 percent of the nation's high schools have a drug-testing policy.

* Another 17 percent are pursuing a testing program.

Of the schools that have a drug-testing policy in place:

* 63 percent test student-athletes.

* 20 percent test all students in the schools.

[end]

http://www.mapinc.org/drugnews/v05/n042/a05.html

SALEM - In the next few weeks, schools Superintendent Herbert Levine will form a task force to explore how to implement random drug testing of student athletes and others who take part in extracurricular activities, even if it violates students' privacy.

Levine is not certain if the tests would be limited to high school students, or if middle school students would be involved as well. There also are some legal questions regarding whether it is possible to test students who don't play sports or participate in clubs.

[continues 740 words]

When I graduated from St. John's Prep in 1992, I had lots of friends and none of them was using OxyContin or heroin.

OxyContin didn't even exist then. And heroin was something homeless junkies did on Avenue B in New York City, not in Essex County high school parking lots. But by early last year, I noticed a lot more young faces on the obituary pages from my hometown of Peabody. These kids, in their teens and early 20s, weren't dying in cars, boats or of rare forms of cancer. They were dying of drug overdoses. I knew one victim. Her name was Stacey. She was 20 years old and a friend of my younger brother. Her nickname was "The Dude," which was a reference to the cool, care-free protagonist in the 1998 film "The Big Lebowski." I did not know Stacey well. All I knew is she was a talented painter, dressed like a hippie and had a kind soul. She once brought my mother some fresh flowers for no apparent reason.

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MARBLEHEAD - Robert Bradley sent his son to the best schools, went to his soccer games, and bought his family a $1.4 million house on Marblehead Neck with a basketball hoop in the driveway.

In the end, it didn't matter. Bradley watched his son lose weight, lose friends and lose interest in everything that ever excited him. St. John's Prep couldn't save him, and neither could drug testing, counselors, nor an Outward Bound retreat to the woods of Maryland. Bradley's son Robert died of a drug overdose. He was 18. Now Bradley can't stop looking back, wondering what else he might have done to save his son.

[continues 654 words]

Before he became district attorney two years ago, Jonathan Blodgett thought heroin was a city problem, and one mostly from decades past. Now he knows better.

One year ago December, Blodgett attended the wake of a 19-year-old from Peabody who grew up with his son. He was a typical teen, a good athlete and student, and never in any trouble.

But he became addicted to OxyContin. Then he tried heroin, just once. The next morning his father found him slumped over his computer, dead. Blodgett tells the story almost every time he speaks publicly about the area's growing opiate epidemic, which he does often, and with urgency. He recently told the story to a reporter, and despite himself, the burly prosecutor started to cry.

[continues 2074 words]

Information, Candor Seen As Key To Addressing Epidemic

Before he became district attorney two years ago, Jonathan Blodgett thought heroin was a city problem, and one mostly from decades past. Now he knows better.

One year ago December, Blodgett attended the wake of a 19-year-old from Peabody who grew up with his son. He was a typical teen, a good athlete and student, and never in any trouble.

But he became addicted to OxyContin. Then he tried heroin, just once. The next morning his father found him slumped over his computer, dead. Blodgett tells the story almost every time he speaks publicly about the area's growing opiate epidemic, which he does often, and with urgency. He recently told the story to a reporter, and despite himself, the burly prosecutor started to cry.

[continues 2074 words]

Before he became district attorney two years ago, Jonathan Blodgett thought heroin was a city problem, and one mostly from decades past. Now he knows better.

One year ago December, Blodgett attended the wake of a 19-year-old from Peabody who grew up with his son. He was a typical teen, a good athlete and student, and never in any trouble.

But he became addicted to OxyContin. Then he tried heroin, just once. The next morning his father found him slumped over his computer, dead. Blodgett tells the story almost every time he speaks publicly about the area's growing opiate epidemic, which he does often, and with urgency. He recently told the story to a reporter, and despite himself, the burly prosecutor started to cry.

[continues 2074 words]

Before he became district attorney two years ago, Jonathan Blodgett thought heroin was a city problem, and one mostly from decades past. Now he knows better.

One year ago December, Blodgett attended the wake of a 19-year-old from Peabody who grew up with his son. He was a typical teen, a good athlete and student, and never in any trouble.

But he became addicted to OxyContin. Then he tried heroin, just once. The next morning his father found him slumped over his computer, dead. Blodgett tells the story almost every time he speaks publicly about the area's growing opiate epidemic, which he does often, and with urgency. He recently told the story to a reporter, and despite himself, the burly prosecutor started to cry.

[continues 2074 words]

MARBLEHEAD - Robert Bradley sent his son to the best schools, went to his soccer games, and bought his family a $1.4 million house on Marblehead Neck with a basketball hoop in the driveway.

In the end, it didn't matter. Bradley watched his son lose weight, lose friends and lose interest in everything that ever excited him. St. John's Prep couldn't save him, and neither could drug testing, counselors, nor an Outward Bound retreat to the woods of Maryland. Bradley's son Robert died of a drug overdose. He was 18. Now Bradley can't stop looking back, wondering what else he might have done to save his son.

[continues 654 words]

MARBLEHEAD - Robert Bradley sent his son to the best schools, went to his soccer games, and bought his family a $1.4 million house on Marblehead Neck with a basketball hoop in the driveway.

In the end, it didn't matter. Bradley watched his son lose weight, lose friends and lose interest in everything that ever excited him. St. John's Prep couldn't save him, and neither could drug testing, counselors, nor an Outward Bound retreat to the woods of Maryland. Bradley's son Robert died of a drug overdose. He was 18. Now Bradley can't stop looking back, wondering what else he might have done to save his son.

[continues 654 words]

MARBLEHEAD - Robert Bradley sent his son to the best schools, went to his soccer games, and bought his family a $1.4 million house on Marblehead Neck with a basketball hoop in the driveway.

In the end, it didn't matter. Bradley watched his son lose weight, lose friends and lose interest in everything that ever excited him. St. John's Prep couldn't save him, and neither could drug testing, counselors, nor an Outward Bound retreat to the woods of Maryland. Bradley's son Robert died of a drug overdose. He was 18. Now Bradley can't stop looking back, wondering what else he might have done to save his son.

[continues 654 words]

Drug Use Escalates Among Teens, Even In The Suburbs

A drug epidemic has hit the North Shore and the victims are not the usual suspects. They are middle-class kids from the suburbs who start experimenting with prescription drugs for fun, but before long are opiate addicts, desperate for the next fix.

Heroin and its legal sister drug OxyContin are destroying families, and police predict the area is on the brink of a major crime wave. The price of heroin is at a record low, sometimes costing less than a six-pack of beer.

[continues 1884 words]

MIDDLETON -- Shawn Harnish never imagined trying a few pills on weekends with his Bishop Fenwick buddies -- smart, middle-class kids like him -- would turn him into a junkie behind bars.

Most days he lied and stole -- from stores, family, strangers -- to get money for OxyContin and later heroin. Tuesdays were his best days. That's when the new DVDs came out and he could steal several and resell them to other stores the same day.

Then he got caught shoplifting, writing bad checks and carrying a hypodermic needle. In October, a judge sentenced the 23-year-old to one year in Middleton Jail. But jail, he says, does not scare him. He hates it. But at least he's safe and alive. What scares Shawn Harnish is heroin's call after his sentence is up. What will he do then?

[continues 1418 words]

Here's a look at how young people are getting their hands on heroin and OxyContin: Heroin In the past several years, law enforcement has noticed that the area's heroin is no longer coming from the Far East. Instead, most of the drug found North of Boston travels from Colombian jungles to New York City and then up Interstate 95 to Essex County.

It arrives in New York compressed in finger-size "bullets," often made of latex, that are swallowed by smugglers so the drug can travel undetected on airplanes. From New York, the drug makes its way north via cars, delivery services and bus lines.

[continues 469 words]

Here's a look at how young people are getting their hands on heroin and OxyContin: Heroin In the past several years, law enforcement has noticed that the area's heroin is no longer coming from the Far East. Instead, most of the drug found North of Boston travels from Colombian jungles to New York City and then up Interstate 95 to Essex County.

It arrives in New York compressed in finger-size "bullets," often made of latex, that are swallowed by smugglers so the drug can travel undetected on airplanes. From New York, the drug makes its way north via cars, delivery services and bus lines.

[continues 469 words]