FIRST H.E.A.T. DRUG PREVENTION SESSION DRAWS 350

WOBURN - Some 350 court personnel and law enforcement officers
converged on Hilton Hotel in East Woburn for a H.E.A.T. (Heroin
Education Awareness Task Force) Conference including a powerful
contingent from the Philadelphia Police Department.

And, throughout the day, the focus was clearly on the Philadelphia PD
and individuals like Sgt. Thomas Gleeson, who held area police and
court officers spellbound by story-after-story on drug abuse and its
consequences.

The focus of the program was prevention including those to address all
types of drug problems from heroin and cocaine to marijuana and to the
abuse of prescription drugs.

The event was a first of a kind in this area in an effort driven by
Woburn court officers in the presence of Acting Chief Probation
Officer Vincent Piro and Probation Officer Michael Higgins. Both have
spoken to numerous area police and civic groups on education and prevention.

While its the HEAT program in Philadelphia, it's H.E.A.T. generating
from the Woburn court. Police came from the Woburn court's
jurisdiction area from Burlington, Reading, North Reading, Stoneham,
Winchester, Wilmington and Woburn.

"It's all about education," said Sgt. Gleeson at the start of the
afternoon session. "There's nothing funny about it. You have to keep
your heads up," he said firmly.

In turn, he showed a presentation entitled: "Dead of
Summer."

In a no-holds-barred presentation, the blood-spilled lives of victims
of deadly drugs was in evidence for over two hours in his
presentation, including first-hand accounts by three parents who lost
children tragically to drugs. All said they felt helpless, as they
tried to curb its use.

"It's all about choices," barked Gleeson at another juncture.
"Senseless drug deaths and drug deals gone wrong. There are all kinds
of excuses."

Added to the fact, he said, drugs today are "much, much more powerful
than when we were kids."

In addition, others are killed or hurt, he said, as he showed how an
engineer on a railroad in Canada on marijuana killed four Canadian
Mounties.

Items like alcohol didn't escape his wrath either. "There's also
medication just hanging around houses and the kids sell it and that
makes them drug dealers," he warned at another juncture, stressing
education as being very important in all area.

In some of his presentations to kids and others, he passes around a
black plastic body bag. It is effective and raises the consciousness
of everyone "and you would be surprised how many people refuse to handle it!"

"I ask the groups: what will your obituary read?" he intoned at
another point. The mindless, senseless deaths, he said, can be avoided
with education.

District Attorney Gerry Leone

Among those speaking was Middlesex District Attorney Gerry
Leone.

Special Agent Todd Prough of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration
and Mass. State Trooper Steve Mullaney, a state police drug
recognition expert, were also speakers at the day-long conference.

In recent months, a bonding has occurred between the Woburn District
Court personnel and the Philadelphia PD, including a visit by Woburn
personnel in April to experience first hand their program in
Philadelphia.

A host of subjects were covered in the intense day-long effort,
including drug recognition, profiling of an overdose, a probation
department's approach to addiction and treatment.

The main thrust of the meeting and sessions was to use Philadelphia as
a model of attacking drug problems from a preventative standpoint.

Veteran police and court officers have come to realize in this area in
the past year the importance of presenting a "no-holds barred outlook
on the true damage and destruction that drugs are causing young and
old alike."

Technically, the session was billed as "The First Annual Conference on
Heroin Problems Facing our Communities Today." The conference also
reached out to others such as school administrators, nurses,
counselors and teachers.

DA Leone highlighted the importance of prevention and intervention
strategies as well as techniques that can be used by parents,
teachers, police, court officers and others in spotting signs of abuse
and offer assistance.

In his keynote remarks, Leone noted:

"The problems of addiction confront so many of our young people -
impacting not only themselves but the families and our
communities.

"That is why it is critical for all of us to come together to
coordinate on prevention and intervention strategies while also
focusing on rehabilitation and treatment efforts on comprehensively
addressing this pressing issue."

Leone, who has been a professional prosecutor, cites his own record of
combating drugs through prosecution, intervention and rehabilitation
strategies.

In fact, Leone began his career in the Roxbury District Court in the
early 1990s during the height of the crack cocaine epidemic, where as
a young prosecutor, he prosecuted many drug-related offenses.

He also noted he moved on to the Middlesex DA's office and the U.S.
Attorney's office in a similar role.

Community-based programs, he had noted, are very important and
creating awareness like the Woburn conference is essential.

Leone pointed to his own efforts in implementing and running the
Middlesex Community Based Justice (CBJ) Program that became a national
model for preventing kids from ending up in the justice system.

This program is still in effect, especially in schools in the county,
and allows Assistant District Attorneys "to become ingrained in those
communities - gaining an intimate knowledge of the neighborhoods,
maintaining continuity in cases and providing a consistent voice and
contact with the DA's office."

The large forum also gave providers a chance to show their
rehabilitation programs, such as the Reckitt Benckiser Healthcare
program (www.suboxone.com)and CAP Health & Recovery Services
(www.cabhealth.org)

For local help:

P.O. Mike Higgins

781-935-4000 X267