The Tewksbury Advocate
Citizens Drug Academy warns parents of dangers children face
Wednesday January 23, 2008 Click Here

The Lowell Sun
Sticking it to those who buy booze for your kids
Thursday, May 11th Click Here

GLOBE NORTHWEST
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 23, 2006
by Joyce Pellino Crane  
ASSESSING DRUG, ALCOHOL USE
 Tewksbury:  The Substance Abuse Committee was awarded $10,000 last month from a private foundation to fund an assessment of drug and alcohol use among students in grades 6 through 12. At $2 per test, said committee member Christine Kinnon, almost half the funds will be used to administer the questionnaires and evaluate responses. The remaining money will cover the cost of hiring a professional to conduct interviews with focus groups representing different segments of the community, including parents and young adults, to gauge attitudes and perceptions on substance abuse. Kinnon said the last assessment of middle and high school students was completed in 2001.
Click here for the results of 2006 survey!

The Lowell Sun
Message Rings True: Tewksbury CARES

By ALEXANDRA MAYER-HOHDAHL, Sun Staff

TEWKSBURY -- Resident Philip French has been in the food business for most of his life, opening and running a series of restaurants and sandwich shops throughout the Greater Lowell area, including Tewksbury's own "French's" on Route 38.

But when he was elected to the Board of Health two years ago, he decided that he had to go into uncharted territory to really make a difference.

"I wanted to do a little more than just grant sewer permits," French, 58, joked on a recent afternoon.

The issue he decided to tackle, however, is no laughing matter: an alarming rise in substance abuse across the board, but especially when it comes to narcotics such as OxyContin. And Tewksbury has certainly not been immune to the trend.

"You see more young people go for OxyContin," French said. "They commit crimes to sustain their habits and then go into heroin because it's cheaper."

Indeed, substance abuse has become so pervasive that when French launched the substance-abuse prevention group Tewksbury CARES last year, several people automatically assumed that somebody in his family must be dealing with drug problems.

"They asked my kids: 'Why is your father doing all this?' And they said: 'Nobody has a problem, it's just what he does,' " French said. "It's not about my kids. ... I'm just doing it because I feel that there's a problem."

French is the first to admit that the 8-month-old Tewksbury CARES -- short for Community Advocates for Resources, Education and Services -- is still very much a work in progress.

"We started out kind of slow, but it's gaining. ... Six, seven, eight months later, we're still not there, but we're still enthused," he said. "We're going to have this (substance abuse) problem for a lot of years, and it's been here for a lot of years. ... It's not something we'll solve immediately, but we sure can be a part of it."

French said he envisions the group, which is currently composed of about 20 members, as a repository for information about substance abuse and the resources that are available to addicts.

He would also like the group to increase awareness about substance-abuse problems through its work with the schools, the Police Department, youth organizations and churches.

"My goal is to have all the different groups in town come together and make them all realize that we, as a community, can make a difference," French said. "It's not my group, it's the community's group. ... This is going to help someone, I know it is."

His seat on the Board of Health, which he currently chairs, is French's first elected position. His short term on the board and the lack of personal experience with substance abuse has made Tewksbury CARES a learning experience for French.

"Am I educated about this? No. But every meeting, we're learning," he said. "The fact that I, who think that I have my eyes and ears open, don't know a thing about (some substance-abuse resources) means that the people who need these groups the most have no clue. We need to get it out there."

As part of the learning curve, Tewksbury CARES is currently working on compiling a substance-abuse survey that will be distributed later this year to students in grades 6 through 12, as well as to adults, according to French.

"It will give us an idea where we're at as a town," he said.

Tewksbury CARES is also planning to hold a Town Hall meeting on underage drinking on March 28, as part of a nationwide effort to prevent and reduce underage alcohol use.

The group is currently funded through a $10,000 grant that was obtained from the Trefler Foundation through the help of the Lawrence-based NortheastCenter for Health Communities, an organization that assists communities with their health initiatives and has taken Tewksbury CARES under its wing.

"We're seeing more and more community coalitions forming," said Tami Gouveia-Vigeant, the NCHC community-health specialist who is involved with Tewksbury CARES. "This one is really driven by Phil."

French said the time he dedicates to his work with the Board of Health and Tewksbury CARES is far from being a burden, especially after all the years that he has lived in town with his wife, daughter and three sons.

"I've lived here pretty much my whole life. ... (Tewksbury) has given myself and my family an awful lot of things," French said. "Spending a few hours a week to give back, it's a small price to pay."

Tewksbury CARES meets the first and third Thursday of every month. For more information, visit www.nc4hc.org/tewksburycares.htm.

Alexandra Mayer-Hohdahl's e-mail address is amayer-hohdahl@lowellsun.com.