STRATEGY OFFERED TO DEAL WITH STATE'S DRUG ABUSE EPIDEMIC

With substance abuse reaching epidemic proportions in Massachusetts, Lt.
Gov. Kerry Healey unveiled a plan Monday that funds additional treatment
services, targets methamphetamine sales, and calls for assistance to school
districts that test students for drugs.

Massachusetts is among the top 5 percent of states with the highest drug
and alcohol abuse rates. The Bay State ranks number one for Oxycontin and
heroin use. In 1996, there were 200 opiate-related fatal overdoses, a
number that jumped to 449 statewide in 2003. And among teens admitted for
substance abuse treatment, they were experimenting with the drug at an
average age of 13. Healey and other public health officials said there is
no single reason behind those unwanted rankings, but said a persistent
denial of the problem likely fuels its prevalence.

Healey shared the administration's plan with members of the Legislature's
new Committee on Mental Health and Substance abuse before discussing it a
scheduled press conference Monday morning.

"One thing that came out of my discussion with committee members that
occurred earlier this morning is the urgency of this problem," she said.
"We cannot afford to wait any longer to take action on these items."
The administration's 93-page strategic plan focuses on identifying,
treating and preventing drug use in schools, something which Healey and a
bipartisan group of lawmakers joining with her said has long been
overlooked. The plan calls for the state to assist communities with the
implementation of drug testing on high school students and establishes two
"sobriety high schools" in Boston and Springfield, where students
recovering from drug addiction could continue their rehab while finishing
their education. Tolman delighted States like Minnesota have run sobriety
high schools for more than a decade, said Sen. Steven Tolman, D-Brighton,
cochairman of the committee. Tolman, who two weeks ago demanded that the
administration set a date for releasing its long-awaited plan, joined with
Healey to support the proposal. He commended the administration for
including in the plan the establishment of sobriety high schools.

"Anybody who wants to pretend that we don't have a problem in every one of
our communities with Oxycontin and heroin belongs on Mars," Tolman said.
"It is outrageous. Most of the children that are coming out of detox,
we're finding, when they're put back in their environment, are failing."
According to Healey, 90 percent of students who attend a sobriety school
after rehab graduate. Ninety-percent of those who come out of treatment
programs and go back to their old schools fail, she said.

The strategic plan is predicated on legislative approval of $9.1 million
included in a supplemental budget filed by the administration earlier this
year. Healey said the money would help 6,000 to 8,000 more drug users in
need of rehab services, and attract $14.5 million in federal matching
funds. Tolman said he expects lawmakers to approve the funds within the
next two to three weeks.

More on prevention The state spends more than $250 million a year on
substance abuse treatment programs, with prevention accounting for just 11
percent of those funds. But the state's existing system of prevention and
treatment is haphazard, Healey said, spread across 13 state agencies that
don't communicate with each other. More than 82,000 Massachusetts residents
received drug abuse treatment services last year. It's estimated another
40,000 sought treatment but were denied because of a lack of resources,
according to a recent Brandeis University study. Salem Schools
Superintendent Herbert Levine attended the press conference and lauded the
administration's proposals, adding that Salem is close to implementing
its own drug-testing program.

Levine's 20-year-old son Joel is a recovering Oxycontin addict, who told
his father he would have never tried the drug if the schools he attended
had randomly tested students.

"I don't think that student drug-testing is necessarily the answer to all
the problems," Levine said. "We know that that's not the case. But it's an
answer. It's another arrow in the quiver for us in education to be able to
help parents. " As part of the plan, Gov. Mitt Romney also filed
legislation that gives prosecutors new tools to crack down on
methamphetamine. The bill contains a list of chemicals that can be used to
manufacture meth, as it is known, and possession of any one, or
combination of, these chemicals with intent to manufacture or distribute
will constitute a felony offense punishable up to five years in prison and
up to $20,000 in fines.

"I think all of you probably know the devastation that methamphetamine has
been causing in other parts of the country," Healey said. "It has been
marching toward us from the West Coast. It's currently devastating the
Midwest. We can see that it will soon reach our borders."