BLODGETT WARNS: DRUG ADDICTION STORM IS COMING

BOSTON -- District Attorney Jonathan W. Blodgett has urged the Legislature
to spend more money on drug-prevention programs because he's "concerned and
somewhat scared" about the rise in addiction to heroin among teenagers. "We
have felt the breeze," Blodgett said. "But we know the hurricane is
coming." Testifying yesterday before the Legislature's Committee on Mental
Health and Substance Abuse, Blodgett said that in the last two years alone,
170 deaths in Essex County have been attributed to OxyContin, heroin and
other opiate drugs or a combination of opiates and alcohol.

In an interview afterward, he said his office's effort to work with schools
has been hurt by the state's failure to increase overall funding in recent
years. He did not specify a dollar amount but said "more has to be
committed to make this (prevention) a constant message."

The district attorney said many abusers start out with OxyContin, a
prescription painkiller that sells for $10 a pill on the street, and
graduate to heroin, losing all sense of responsibility. He said the
epidemic could be reduced with more drug education.

Paul Cote, interim state public health commissioner, promised to present
the Romney administration's plan for combating the rise of drug abuse among
young people later this month.

He presented data showing that Massachusetts has one of the longest waiting
lists in the country for treatment and has seen a steady rise in fatal
overdoses of opiates.

Lawmakers on the panel said they were eager to improve drug prevention and
treatment programs but made no specific promises.

North of Boston educators and drug-abuse specialists warned in subsequent
interviews that further cuts in prevention programs would lead to even
faster growth in opiate abuse.

David Nichols, the health education coordinator for Andover public schools,
said they have lost $120,000 in drug-prevention funding from the state in
the past four years.

That money, which came from the state's settlement with tobacco companies,
funded a range of school drug-prevention programs. Many of those were
reduced during the state's problems following the recession in 2000.
Nichols said the prevention programs teach children about the physical and
psychological effects of drugs.

"It's not just about teaching students about the inhalants," he said, "but
teaching them how the inhalants affect the respiratory system. We also need
to teach kids at a young age how to refuse drugs when offered them."
Patrick Larkin, principal of Peabody High School, said it is more expensive
to treat older students with substance abuse problems than to encourage
younger students to avoid drugs.

Kevin Norton, president of CAB Health & Recovery Systems, said his
Danvers-based company has lost about $1 million in state funding to run
prevention programs since 2000. At one time, the company had 18 people
working on prevention programs and now it has one.

"When push comes to shove," Norton said, "the first thing to go is
prevention. Those programs have all but disappeared."