Alcohol and Drugs
Soon after D.A. Blodgett was sworn in on January 1, 2003, he learned that heroin was widely available in Essex County, and was being used not only as an inner-city street drug, but by teenagers in the suburbs. One of the factors fueling the heroin epidemic was the increasing abuse of the prescription drug OxyContin by high school students. Many young people, under the false impression that abusing prescription drugs is not dangerous, became addicted to this powerful narcotic. OxyContin on the street is very expensive, so heroin becomes an inexpensive alternative.
D.A. Blodgett was a leader in raising awareness about this problem. Working with Essex County Sheriff Frank Cousins, he convened a summit to draw attention to the problem and identify solutions. His office developed an award-winning, nationally recognized program, Choose to Refuse, to educate young people about the dangers of heroin and OxyContin. He also worked with legislators to start a drug
diversion program in some of the district courts to help offenders get drug treatment, while still remaining tough on drug traffickers.
D.A. Blodgett has been a leader on the Social Host Liability Law awareness and combating underage drinking. In addition to speaking to high schools across the county prior to the prom and graduation season each year, his office has developed a program Underage Drinking: Not Everyone Is Doing It. This program offers a session for parents, high school and middle school students. It explains the social, legal and physical consequences of underage drinking. His staff has developed a similar program regarding drug use.
Bullying
Each year, the District Attorney’s Office hosts a School Safety Conference, to bring national experts to Essex County to present the latest information on school safety to school personnel, police, mental health professionals, probation and other school-related agencies. The conferences have included members of the Secret Service who conducted groundbreaking research on school shooters, several nationally known experts on bullying, and school safety planners.
In addition, the District Attorney’s Office developed an anti-bullying program in 2004. This program engages middle school students in developing anti-bullying messages for students in Kindergarten, first and second grades. Further, the District Attorney’s Office has offered an Internet Safety program since 2004 to schools and parent groups. That program now includes a section on cyberbullying.
Partnering with Schools and Parents
D.A. Blodgett has made outreach to schools and parents a priority in his administration. Throughout the last 8 years, he and members of his staff have made countless presentations to parents, superintendents, teachers, and other school officials on underage drinking, heroin and OxyContin use, Internet safety, hazing, bullying, and teen dating violence. His office has also offered numerous trainings, often with nationally known experts, to school officials in this county. Every effort is made to accommodate a request from a school or parent group for information or assistance.
The District Attorney’s Juvenile Justice Unit also conducts regular meetings in each school district throughout the county. These meetings, known as the Community Collaborative Initiative, include all relevant agencies, local police, juvenile probation, Department of Children and Families, Department of Mental Health, Department of Youth Services with school personnel – principals, guidance, nurses. The purpose of the meeting is to identify at-risk youth and ensure that they are receiving the support and services they need to succeed.
