A $1,000 THANK YOU TO DRUG BUSTERS

A local drug abuse prevention group will be presenting a $1,000 check to
the Marshfield Police Department on Saturday to recognize its work busting
drug dealers and supporting the DARE program over the past year.

The Marshfield Drug Abuse Prevention Committee was formed last summer after
a local teenager just out of rehab wrote to an online forum that more
needed to be done to address what he viewed as "rampant"substance abuse
problems in Marshfield.

Since then, the group has reached out to residents and law enforcement
officials to help heighten awareness about drug use among youths and
discuss ways to combat the problem. The committee also holds monthly
support sessions for parents whose teenagers are struggling with substance
abuse.

Steve Whitmore, a founding member of the group, said he's very impressed
with the Police Department's success in cracking down on local drug dealers
and working with teenagers on prevention education.

"It's essentially to congratulate them and show our appreciation for all
their effort and success so far," Whitmore said. "They've really been
busting their tails to nail people left and right"

Marshfield police officials attribute the success to increased training of
officers, growing public awareness, and a more aggressive approach toward
enforcement. Police Lieutenant Phil Tavares said the department is
definitely receiving more anonymous tips about possible drug activity in
town since the local prevention group was formed last summer.

Over the past year, there have been several significant busts, including
one that resulted in the seizure of several kilograms of cocaine, hundreds
of thousands of dollars in cash, automobiles, and houses, Tavares said.

Along with these efforts, Whitmore also praised the department's prevention
programs in the schools, particularly with the DARE, or Drug Abuse
Resistance Education, program.

Local support for the program follows harsh criticism from state officials
after a criminal justice report called DARE a failure earlier this year. In
April, Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey said she would not recommend
resurrecting state funding for the DARE program until a nationwide study is
completed several years from now. State funding for DARE was cut in 2002 by
Acting Governor Jane Swift from $4.3 million to $200,000.

But in Marshfield, Tavares said he has received only positive feedback
about the program and he firmly believes it's a needed resource. As an
example, he talked about the recent case of a DARE graduate who called the
police on his mother after finding marijuana in the house.

"Having teenagers feel comfortable talking about problems with police --
you can't beat that," Tavares said. "It really helps any time you can get
an officer outside a cruiser, and work in partnership with a drug alliance
in the schools."

Although a recent school survey showed drug and alcohol use decreasing
among seventh- and ninth-graders in Marshfield, some residents saw the
study as insufficient because it didn't ask about the use of OxyContin, a
powerful and addictive painkiller, or heroin -- both increasingly popular
drugs -- and older high school students were not surveyed.

Over the next year, Whitmore said, his group plans to reach out to churches
and other local organizations to help strengthen awareness efforts to fight
substance abuse in Marshfield.

"We've got a long way to go. Stopping drug abuse is a never-ending battle,"
Whitmore said. "But it doesn't mean we're not making progress."

The Marshfield Drug Abuse Prevention Committee is presenting the $1,000
check and a plaque to the Police Department at a ceremony Saturday at 10
a.m. behind the Marshfield Police Department. State Representative Frank
Hynes, a Marshfield Democrat, and Plymouth District Attorney Timothy J.
Cruz will be speaking at the event.