LOCAL BAND'S SONG A WARNING

With their friend near death after overdosing on heroin, Dennis DeCastro and
Tim Snyder battled conflicting emotions.

Confusion. Frustration. Anger. Hope.

The pair, members of a St. Petersburg-based hip-hop band, channeled those
emotions into a song, ``Is He Gonna Make It?'' Their musical mentor, Justin
``J.T.'' Hayden, survived this brush with death, but the demons of addiction
finally caught him nearly 14 months later, when he ingested a fatal dose of
heroin.

Now, the group says it wants to make sure Hayden's death is not forgotten.

The group has sent a copy of ``Is He Gonna Make It?'' to Tallahassee for use
in a state-sponsored antidrug campaign. And members say the song tells those
involved with drugs the consequences are harsh.

``We're coming at them with a `scared straight' type of message,'' DeCastro
said. ``We're not going to sugarcoat anything. We tell you what will happen
if you keep on doing crazy stuff like drugs.''

Snyder, 24, said drugs are a pervasive part of his generation's culture.
Hayden's life reflected that reality.

Hayden's mother, Cheryl Roberson, said her son battled heroin addiction for
years.

When she offered help, he denied his problem. ``I called every agency I
could find,'' Roberson said. ``I even tried to get him Baker-acted. I'd
think, if I could get him arrested, anything, he'd stop and get some help.
But as an adult addict, everyone told me [treatment] had to be voluntary.''

For a brief time after an overdose, Hayden did try to quit, Roberson said.

Eventually, he returned to heroin. At a south Tampa party March 15, 1997,
Hayden snorted a lethal dose. His friend, George Bakun, also overdosed at
the party. The dealer who supplied the drug, Damien Gordon, was sentenced to
15 years in prison, charged with a rarely used law holding suppliers
responsible in fatal overdoses.

Gordon turned in his supplier, James Michael Terry, who received a life
sentence in November 1998 for his role in the deaths. Several of the band
members joined Roberson at Terry's sentencing. Shortly afterward, Roberson
said, she called the members together to encourage them to continue their
music. Drummer Aaron Bond said it was important for the group to move
forward.

But one thing the band refused to change was its name - Ovidos (pronounced
similarly to ``overdose'') - despite its possible misinterpretation as an
endorsement for drug use.

Florida Department of Law Enforcement records show antidrug messages are not
working, with 206 heroin-related deaths in Florida in 1998, up from 114 in
1996.

Roberson said if the group's song helps one addict or one parent cope with
loss, then her son's death will not have been in vain.