PROSECUTOR TO SPEAK ON DRUG ISSUE CALAIS -- Parents concerned about a growing prescription drug problem in the city will have an opportunity to share their concerns with the top federal prosecutor in Maine. U.S. Attorney Jay McCloskey will be at the Calais High School at 6:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 6, to address parents and anybody else. A question-and-answer session will follow the meeting, which was set up by a newly organized anti-drug group. In the past few months, an organization called Washington County Communities Against Heroin/Opiates has divided into subcommittees in an effort to address all aspects of the prescription drug problem. The smaller groups cover such topics as the Legislature, parents, medical and mental health, law enforcement and schools. Carrie Perkins-McDonald, Union 106 prevention specialist, urged parents to attend Monday night. She said she had received a number of telephone calls from parents and others who indicated they would like to be involved in the group. "They want to be on our subcommittees and want to do something about the problem, but are just not sure what, so Jay is going to point us in the proper direction," she said. Parents are asked not to bring young children into the meeting. Child-care service will be available in the high school gymnasium. Last month, McCloskey was invited to attend a meeting of the newly formed organization, but a scheduling problem interfered. Even though Maine ranks 39th in population (1.2 million), the state is the nation's second-largest consumer of the synthetic narcotic OxyContin. In Washington County alone, there are 100 suspected opiate and heroin traffickers. During the past year, sales of such drugs have increased in Washington County McCloskey has been taking his message on the road to talk with parents, education professionals and students as he crisscrosses the state. Maine Drug Enforcement Agency agents, along with officers from other law enforcement agencies, recently charged eight people in eastern Washington County with drug trafficking during a sweep that netted police synthetic narcotics, including a quantity of Dilaudid tablets. That synthetic narcotic is frequently smuggled into Calais from St. Stephen, New Brunswick, just across the St. Croix River, or it is diverted from legitimate prescription use. On Nov. 20, McCloskey will return to Calais to talk with students at the high school. There also will be a discussion about hepatitis C and the AIDS risk associated with drugs.
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