INMATES TEACH PUPILS LESSON ON DRUG ABUSE

MOUNT LAUREL - Vanessa Veloz approached the podium in Harrington Middle
School's auditorium Thursday - but not to lead a holiday sing-along or
promote a parent-led fund-raiser to the 500 seventh-grade students gathered
there.

Instead, Veloz introduced herself as Inmate 19814. She is serving a
seven-year sentence for drug possession at the Edna Mahan Correctional
Facility for Women in Clinton, Hunterdon County.

"Drugs will make you think they're your greatest friend in the world. But
the only thing they will bring you is suffering and death," Veloz said.

Veloz was one of four inmates from the state's prison system who spoke to
the students about how their lives - at one time stable - drifted into the
dark world of drug use.

Their overriding message: Don't make the same mistakes that we did.

The program came at an especially meaningful time for Harrington Middle
School. Three students were charged with possession of marijuana Nov. 17
after a locker search by school administrators.

The program, called Promoting Responsibility in Drug Education (PRIDE),
emphasizes the consequences of decisions, said Michael Ritter, the
program's coordinator.

"We feel that if we can give kids real-life examples of what happens when
you choose drugs, it will prevent them from getting into them in the first
place," Ritter said.

A representative from the department moderates the program with local
school administrators and law enforcement officials. Typically, four
inmates - two male and two female - speak to students. The moderator makes
comments after each talk and then fields questions from the audience. After
the program, introduced by the state Department of Corrections in 1998, the
inmates and students have lunch together.

According to the 1999 Uniform Crime Report, drug arrests for people under
17 declined 11 percent from the previous year, but drug-related arrests
remain second only to theft for juveniles. But even more disturbing, 80
percent of the state's 30,000-plus inmates have used or distributed drugs
and many started when they were in their early teens, Ritter said.

According to Superintendent Arthur Merz, Mount Laurel was the first
municipality in the Lenape School District to offer the program to middle
school students.

"I saw the program at Lenape High School and was extremely impressed by it.
We thought it would be good to bring it to our middle school students
before they move on to high school," Merz said.

Now, more than 50 percent of the district's middle schools have used the
program, said Harrington guidance counselor Joyce Jones. She serves on the
district's drug-free committee.

"If we can make one student today make a different decision, then the
program is worth it," she said.

Students sat with their eyes locked on the speakers.

Sara Trzuskowski, 13, was particularly moved by how quickly life can turn
in another direction.

"I was shocked," Trzuskowski said.

"It showed me how with one decision you can go wrong."

Tommy Collins, 12, learned things he never knew about drug and alcohol use.

"Like people who say they're your friend and then they ask you to use drugs
with them. But they're never there for you when you're in jail - only your
family is there for you. I also learned how easy it is to get addicted," he
said.

And while students benefited from the talk, 13-year-old Angel Fields thinks
it reinforced an even greater lesson learned three weeks ago.

"I knew those kids. I never thought they were into drugs. I was shocked
that they would bring that into our school but it was an example of what
not to do," she said.