STATE PROPOSES SUPPORT FOR SCHOOL DRUG TESTING

BOSTON -- The state would help fund voluntary drug testing programs in
Massachusetts schools under a substance abuse prevention plan unveiled
yesterday by Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey.

She also called on the Legislature to approve $9.1 million in supplemental
funding for drug prevention, which would expand detoxification services to
6,000 to 8,000 more clients.

Lt. Gov. Healey was joined at a Statehouse press conference by New Bedford
Mayor Frederick M. Kalisz Jr. and Salem schools Superintendent Herbert
Levine, the only two communities in the state that are considering school
drug testing programs.

Mayor Kalisz proposed voluntary random drug testing of New Bedford's
students after the October 2003 drug-related stabbing death of 14-year-old
Patrick Murphy. Mayor Kalisz has been working with a diverse group of
educators, religious leaders and drug counselors on a plan for next fall.
He has said he prefers a plan where parents and students would voluntarily
agree to participate. The mayor could not be reached for comment later
yesterday.

Lt. Gov. Healey also came to the drug testing summit and pledged the
governor's support.

She released a report yesterday called: "A Case for Change: A Strategic
Plan for Substance Abuse Services in the Commonwealth."

The report calls for voluntary drug testing programs in any school that
sought it. The report estimates it would cost $100,000 per school,
including $20,000 for drug testing and $80,000 for substance abuse
counseling. Other prevention measures in the report include:

Allowing by state law voluntary, comprehensive drug testing programs in
school districts.

The U.S. Supreme Court has upheld random drug testing in schools.

The filing of new legislation to crack down on methamphetamine
manufacturing and distribution.

Intensive case management for at-risk students.

"Real-time" tracking of heroin overdoses to better direct state resources
toward problem areas of the state.

Better coordination among state agencies through the formation of the new
Interagency Council on Substance Abuse and Prevention, which Lt. Gov.
Healey will chair. "The comprehensive strategies unveiled in this plan
emphasize prevention and target regions that have high substance abuse,"
she said. "To ensure the most effective use of our resources, those
recommendations focus our spending on science-based programs and expanding
access to treatment.

The best substance abuse strategy is to help kids never to start." More
than 82,000 people were treated for substance abuse in Massachusetts last
year. Teenagers who sought treatment said they experimented with drugs at
an average age of just under 13. Lt. Gov. Healey said Massachusetts needed
the $9.1 million to be approved in a supplemental budget to qualify for a
matching federal grant worth $14.5 million. The state spends more than $250
million a year on substance abuse services and treatment.

The prevention plan was supported by Sen. Steven Tolman, a Boston Democrat
who co-chairs the Joint Committee on Mental Health and Substance Abuse. The
bill contains a list of chemicals that can be used to manufacture
methamphetamines. Lt. Gov. Healey recommended making possession of any of
the chemicals, or a combination of them, a felony punishable by up to five
years in prison and a $20,000 fine.