POWERFUL PILLS

OxyContin Woes Stir Brighton Councilor

The OxyContin wars have opened a new front in Allston-Brighton, officials
said, where families are seeing kids as young as 10 try the wildly
addictive prescription drug.

"We've got a problem just as bad as Southie," said District 9 Councilor
Jerry P. McDermott (D-Brighton). "We've had calls from mothers who are
telling us that girls are performing oral sex in the park for a hit of
OxyContin."

To try and inoculate the neighborhood youth to the painkiller's lure, the
Allston-Brighton Drug Task Force is hosting a youth drug summit today at
Boston College for more than 1,200 schoolkids.

While Charlestown and South Boston may have been epicenters of Boston's
OxyContin crisis, Allston-Brighton has in the past year seen a spike in the
painkiller's use, including three overdose deaths within the past eight
months, McDermott said.

Along with the now-familiar tales of kids stealing from relatives to feed
their cravings, the neighborhood has seen a spike in house and car
break-ins and hypodermic needles have been found on the ground. Six new
crime-watch groups have formed and attendance is good at a one-year-old
12-step program for teens.

"I get parents calling all the time. They're in good families," said
Dierdre Houtmeyer, director of St. Elizabeth's Comprehensive Addiction Program.