Officials at Mansfield event say parents need to talk to children about drug abuse before proms and graduations
Written by David Linton for The Sun Chronicle
Paula Young, president of the New Bedford-based non-profit Achieve Greatness, speaks at a press conference Tuesday about the dangers of fentanyl and fentanyl-laced drugs. Her 33-year-old son died in March 2022 after smoking marijuana he did not know was laced with fentanyl. DAVID LINTON / The Sun Chronical
May 2, 2023
MANSFIELD — School Superintendent Teresa Murphy is happy to see students at proms and graduations.
But after she leaves the events, despite all the precautions school officials take, Murphy hopes and prays the students get home safely.
“And I don’t rest until our school resource officers give me the call and tell me all went well,” Murphy said Tuesday during a press conference with Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn III.
Flanked by two dozen police officers and school and fire officials at the Mansfield police station, Quinn said he wanted to get the message out that parents need to talk to their children this prom and graduation season about the dangers of drinking, drugs and peer pressure.
“These are big milestones and reasons to celebrate. But often times you see tragedies come from these events,” Quinn said. “It’s important to have fun but having fun must also involve safe choices.”
The district attorney encouraged parents to make a plan with their child in case they need to “get out of a risky situation,” such as a coded message that children can text for a parent to come pick them up.
Quinn also cautioned parents against allowing alcohol or furnishing it to minors at social events at their homes. Under the social host law, anyone who furnishes alcohol to a minor risks a fine of up to $2,000 and a one-year jail sentence.
Another danger, Quinn said, is the prevalence of the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl that is being mixed with almost every street drug, including marijuana, cocaine and pills made to look like Adderall or other prescription medicine.
Another speaker, Paula Young, president of the New Bedford-based non-profit Achieve Greatness, said fentanyl mixed with drugs popular with young people, including marijuana, can be fatal.
“These are not the recreational drugs of back in the ‘50s or ‘60s anymore. Literally, it is a death sentence,” Young said.
Her 33-year-old son Andrew Santos died in March 2022 after smoking marijuana he did not know was laced with fentanyl. It was given to him by a person he knew, she said.
The worry and concern of the speakers this prom and graduation season is understandable given that national statistics show alcohol and marijuana remain popular among young people.
According to the 2021 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, 47.5% of those 12 and older reported using alcohol in the prior month, and 14.3% reported using an illicit drug.
The survey found that 10.57% of those 12 to 17 years old reported using marijuana in the last year, and 3.3% of those 12 and older reported misusing opioids such as painkillers or heroin.
Despite the fact that fentanyl — which is 50 times more potent than heroin — is responsible for thousands of fatalities across the country, Young said the message is not getting out.
“We’re losing 200 people a day. It’s more than, literally, a plane crash every day,” she said.