GROUP COMBATS DRUG USE

Abuse Panel Gains Residents' Support

It wasn't the discovery of a methamphetamine drug lab in town or any
troubling drug statistics that set Phillip French on a mission to
stem substance abuse. Instead, it was a personal epiphany of sorts
that coincided with his 2004 election to Tewksbury's Board of Health.

French, the father of four grown children, had never served on a town
board before. But after being elevated to chairman in April, French
said, he realized he could bring some health issues to the
forefront. So, teaming with Board of Health member Christine Kinnon,
French put out a call in June for residents to join the town's
substance abuse committee and assembled a board of directors made up
of key community leaders, including Wynn Middle School assistant
principal John Donoghue.

Though it has taken nearly six months, the group -- called Tewksbury
Community Activists for Resources, Education, and Services -- is
finding direction and now has about 20 committee members and seven
board members, he said. "There's a lot of people willing to do
things when they know the cause is right," said French.

The committee's progress demonstrates how an ordinary citizen can
make an impact in a town. And aided by the expertise of the
Lawrence-based Northeast Center for Healthy Communities, the
Tewksbury committee can provide lessons on how a town can organize
coalitions to build awareness of substance abuse. Tami
Gouveia-Vigeant, a social worker at the center, said she has
counseled in Lawrence, Andover, and Medford on substance abuse.
However, she said, her three years with the Tewksbury program, which
originated at the Greater Lawrence Family Health Center, represent
her first ground-floor experience. "What's great about working with
Tewksbury," she said, "is we forged a relationship with Phil French
and the Substance Abuse Committee right when they were forming. We
were able to offer our services right when they were starting, and
they were really receptive to working with us." "Communities don't
need to reinvent the wheel as they think of this," said Michael
Botticelli, assistant commissioner for substance abuse services at
the state Department of Public Health. Organizations like the
Northeast center "can provide a template and framework so
communities aren't floundering and wasting time. . . . We know what
makes effective coalitions." Among the people expressing support for
the Tewksbury group is Deacon Bill Emerson, a former School Committee
member and current chaplain for the Middlesex sheriff's office.

Emerson had chaired a Tewksbury-based substance abuse awareness group
during the administration of Governor Michael S. Dukakis. As a former
director of religious education at Saint Williams Catholic Church,
Emerson has seen, firsthand, the effects of drugs and alcohol on
young adults. Emerson said he is worried about the proliferation of
cheap heroin and the prescription pain reliever OxyContin in suburban
communities. The initial euphoria induced by these opiates eventually
yields to a relentless gnawing as addiction grabs hold. The users, he
said, fool themselves into thinking they can ingest such drugs
without consequence. "I see that most kids using [OxyContin] don't
see the fact that it's as addictive as it really is," said Emerson.
"They think they can do it and stop. I think the education can really
help. There needs to be a more concerted effort to educate kids about drugs."

Tewksbury's admissions to state-funded drug-treatment programs were
lower than the overall state rate, according to statistics from the
Massachusetts Department of Public Health. But Emerson said his work
with young adults has convinced him that the drug problem in town is
not to be taken lightly. "I obviously think something has to be
done," he said. "I think we do have a drug problem, and it's growing
every day."

According to Gouveia-Vigeant, substance-abuse rates do not vary much
from one community to the next.

"What we generally see," she said, "is that the rates in Tewksbury
are comparable to the rates in Andover, which are comparable to the
rates in Lowell, which are comparable to the rates in Lawrence."

Misuse of OxyContin, for example, "is prevalent with young adults" in
Tewksbury, said French. "The 19- to 30-year-olds seem to have a
strong appetite for this. We've had a number of incidents in town
that shows this OxyContin problem is there."

Though French and Kinnon are willing to lead the new coalition, they
admitted to floundering initially.

French said the sluggish start generated criticism among some
committee members, who were facing substance-abuse problems in their
families and wanted quick relief. The criticism stung, said French,
but did not deter him. A newspaper announcement seeking committee
members caught the attention of Gouveia-Vigeant, who called to offer
her services.

Her group, one of six state-funded centers that support
community-based substance abuse coalitions, works with local
organizations to improve a community's health by building coalitions,
collecting and analyzing community health data, and developing and
implementing health programs. It serves more than 50 municipalities,
including Andover, Billerica, Chelmsford, Lawrence, Lowell, Medford,
Methuen, North Andover, North Reading, Reading, Stoneham,
Tyngsborough, and Westford.

From Gouveia-Vigeant, French learned of funding sources that could
boost the Tewksbury coalition's information and educational
resources. French's group is in the running for a $10,000 privately
funded grant that would cover the cost of surveying residents about
drug use, conducting focus groups, and interviewing community
leaders and residents. French said he expects a decision by next week.

Even more significant, said Gouveia-Vigeant, is a $100,000 federal
grant to be decided next September. The money would allow the group
to hire a coordinator who would act as a spokesman and publicly
address students and community groups about the pitfalls of
substance abuse, she said. The Northeast center teaches that
substance abuse does not typically start with hard drugs but with
more entry-level substances. "You can't look at heroin, OxyContin,
and methamphetamine in a bubble," Gouviea-Vigeant said. "There are
other common substances that are contributing factors, and those
substances are tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana." Police in the
northwest suburbs also are voicing concerns about the discovery over
a six-month period of three makeshift drug laboratories that were
producing methamphetamine -- a concoction of cold medicine such as
Sudafed and other household items to form a crystallized powder that
stimulates the nervous system. One lab was discovered in October at
Tewksbury's Caswell Hotel. Others were discovered in Chelmsford and Lowell.

With methamphetamine labs spreading in Western and Midwestern states,
Emerson thinks the local finds are just the tip of the iceberg. "I
think the police have done a great job in discovering the ones they
know about," he said, "but how many more are out there?" For more
than 30 years, French has worked behind the counter at his French's
Restaurant on Main Street, watching teenagers and young adults come
and go. According to Kinnon, French's is one of the most popular
restaurants in town, and gave its owner a vantage point from which
substance abuse problems were painfully apparent.

French "was seeing young people in trouble," she said. "He said he'd
like to get a group going to address substance-abuse awareness in
Tewksbury. I said, 'That sounds good to me. . . . We might be able
to make a difference. Get something started.' "

Though he is being credited with getting things rolling, French is
not sure where the efforts will lead.

"I'm just trying to spearhead this and make it become a reality," he
said. "I don't know what good my efforts are, but I know no effort is
no good." Tewksbury CARES meets every first and third Thursday of
the month at 5:30 p.m. at Town Hall.