BASEBALL STAR: A PUBLIC DRUG PROBLEM

PEABODY - OxyContin and heroin addiction are afflicting a new generation of
young people, most of them anonymous to the general public. But there's one
person on the North Shore whose drug problems have been played out on the
front pages of the newspaper and in a national magazine. Jeff Allison was
one of the best pitchers ever from this area, named the high school
baseball player of the year by Baseball America magazine. He was
drafted in the first round by the Florida Marlins and signed to a contract
worth $1.85 million.

But now the 20-year-old is back home in Peabody, lucky to be alive after
overdosing on heroin July 17 in Lynn.

Allison started taking OxyContin in high school, before he was drafted by
the Marlins. He reported five weeks late for spring training, then left the
team without permission. He forfeited $200,000 of his signing bonus and is
not being paid by the team.

Allison now says he is working out and plans to make a comeback with the
Marlins at spring training in February. In an interview with The Salem News
in November, Allison called his drug experiences a "bad dream." "The only
thing to do is move on and look ahead," he said.