DRUG WARNING HITS HOME AT GIRL'S FUNERAL

She was well-liked, pretty and the kind of person who was always there
for her friends, they said.

Friends were there for 13-year-old Shauna Ulman at her funeral
Thursday. More than 100 young people at Spring Hill Baptist Church
mourned the girl who went to a party, took a pill and died sometime
Sunday night.

The teenagers came by themselves and in groups. Some wept, others
remained silent and still others embraced or held hands. Several
brought bouquets to place beside her casket.

Shauna's body was discovered Sunday night at a friend's house where
Shauna had been taking a nap.

A pill containing a potent painkiller was found beside her bed. An
autopsy found what might have been another pill, but it couldn't be
positively identified, according to Hernando County Sheriff's Office.

The death remains under investigation, authorities
said.

Sheriff's deputies said they think the tablet was among 130 to 200
oxycodone hydrochloride pills missing from a prescription that
belonged to a cancer patient who died last year. The pills have not
been recovered, law enforcement officials said.

Some of Shauna's classmates said they saw her death as a wake-up call.
``If you don't know what it is, don't take it,'' said Saralynn Roush,
15.

At the funeral, a sheriff's deputy who is a family friend spoke
briefly. He called the girl's death unacceptable.

``Anybody dying on drugs is a tragedy. A child dying on drugs is
unacceptable,'' Sgt. Craig Baxley told the young mourners.

Preventing drug abuse ``starts here and now, with each and every one
of you sitting here,'' Baxley added.

``Drugs kill. It's a price I don't want to pay. It's a price I don't
want any of you to pay,'' he said as the song ``A Candle in the Wind''
faded into the background.

Several of Shauna's friends said they couldn't believe she had paid
that price. ``She was just trying to have little fun,'' said Devona
Covington. ``A little fun can kill you,'' said Emily Smith, another
friend.

Shauna was not a regular drug user, said classmates at Parrott Middle
School, but was a popular girl who liked to have a good time.

``She was pretty, nice and good fun. She was there for everybody,''
said Rebecca Rodriguez, 14, who called Shauna her best friend.

Parent Lisa Roush said the death was a ``reality check.''

``These kids think they're invincible. But God puts everyone here to
teach a lesson or learn a lesson,'' she said. ``Shauna is teaching us
a lesson.''

Shauna's friends said prescription drugs, mainly pills, are easily
available in the community. Although drug education is given in the
schools, the consequences of drug misuse are not stressed enough,
Rodriguez said.

``Many of us don't listen until something like this happens,'' a teary
Rodriguez said.

A nine-week health course provides information about drug and
substance abuse to sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders in Hernando
County. Parrott Middle Principal Marvin Gordon said Thursday that more
education is needed about misuse of prescriptions and over-the-
counter drugs.