"Tragedy happens all the time"?????? Maybe it does but that doesn't mean a community or it's leaders shrugs it shoulders and just says what can we do about it or gosh are we just unlucky now. Every community needs leaders to step up with outrage, demand zero tolerance and aggresively eliminate the scourge that is killing it's citizens. Reading has now seen this problem escalate in to gun violence the the urban areas have witnessed for years. Time to invigorate the effort against substance abuse? Ya think? Escalate the effort with vigor and urgency or you will "seem to just really see a lot more of it"!!!!

It seems to me that the DARE program was removed from the Reading schools some years back, probably when these young men were attending Reading Schools. I am not sure what the stats say about the effectiveness of DARE on drug prevention among kids, but I think recent events should at least stimulate discussion about whether or not to bring DARE back.

The DARE program was in place when these two victims attended Reading schools. I'm not sure that this current Board of Selectpeople has the necessary vision and fortitude that is required to lead this town, too political.

Matt Casey where is the meeting held and at what time on Sept. 29th? George and Peter you both are correct. We all get, but I don't think they do.

Its no secret, heroin is a real problem in this town so let's wake up before more youngsters get addicted

Education Reading kids about substance abuse is one tiny part of the solution. What about the non-school aged community members that are trafficking/using/selling? What do we do about them?
Since Patch started posting police reports, most notably thefts, house burglaries and needles in school playgrounds; I have become alarmingly aware of the underlying drug problem in Reading. People steal stuff to fund a habit.
Should we increase police patrols, neighborhood watches, education, town involvement, or all four? Do the police and Town Hall even know where selling, using, trafficking occur? What does the data tell us?

We need a drug task force officer to focus on this problem immediately. Interview Reading residents/HS students and you will have a list in no-time of the players in town to investigate.

The Reading Police Chief hasn't publicly said a single word. He needs to address the town with a game plan.

The chief needs a mandate and policy from the Selectman to devote the needed resources to defeat this enemy. It's a war and educating the future generations is only the prevention phase. there needs to be an all out front against th drug problem and it will start with a policy vote from the Board of Selectmen, then a town wide reverse 911 call to every household in Reading that there will be zero tolerance of any drug use or selling. That way the perpetrators won't be able to say they weren't warned. Then the drug task force officer mentioned previously and above can go out and implement some of the other suggestions that have been offered here to round up and punish the offenders not just catch and release. This is not fishing this is life and death.

The DARE program was taught in Reading schools when these two attended, but the DARE program is totally ineffective. In the last several years districts nationwide have abandoned the DARE program because it doesn't work. Regardless, the real drug problems in this town aren't from school aged kids. You ask high school students who the dealers are and they're going to be giving you rumors,conjecture, and at most a low-level kid supplying his friends. The problem is that the drug using community is pushed into places the rest of the community cannot see it because of its legal status. How many people knew Joe Ronan was selling percocets? Plenty of people if you ask the right group, but to most people who knew him he was a regular kid. How do you catch people when they hide out in the open? Focusing on youth prevention is not going to help with the actively using population in Reading either. There are no corners or ghettos the police can patrol more often to reduce the trade, these are the suburbs. Maybe we should start by actually rehabilitating users who get arrested instead of sending them to jail where they learn how to be better criminals. Maybe not. I'd love to hear some thoughts on what to do about a subgroup of 20-40 year olds who don't show up on anyones radar until they're dead or shooting someone because, quite frankly, I don't know what the solution is.

Gotta be kidding me! The people and families of Reading need to wake up! We have a wonderful community but we cannot sit around and watch this drug problem destroy our community. It is here in our town and on your street. Before RCASA there was a group who spoke the emerging truth about Drugs in Reading, but they (Town)came up with their own group led by the community leader who want to pretend our town is immune to opiates on our streets. Having a fancy brocure does not solve the problem start cracking down we all know who the culprits are.

Caveman makes some solid points. However, research shows that the best method to address substance abuse is by a united community effort. Each element has a key role in the reduction of substance abuse. The Town of Reading needs to make educating it's students about how to develop healthy behaviors a priority. It needs to be a comprehensive K-12 approach using the most proven scientific teaching methods available. What currently exists is woefully inadequate. A strong commitment by educational leaders to address this issue full force is also critical. As for the sub group of 20-40 year olds that Caveman speaks of.....there is no easy answer but we certainly need to try something as a community that can address the issue in the open with a continued effort. RCASA is capable of playing a huge role in addressing this issue. However, they are funded by a federal grant that ends September 2012.

I agree it needs to be a community effort and full press by all innvolved. We can no longer stick our heads in the sand and pretend this will just go away. The police need to get tougher on the locals and not let them slide because they are freinds of someone or school buddys with a slap on the wrist. Parrents need to open their eyes and know what their kids are doing and texting about.

It sounds like the coalition's next annual meeting should be held at the High School field house or similar location large enough to accommodate all those interested in attending. The Town Manager, Police Chief as well as the entire Board of Selectman and School Committee should plan on attending as well. Attendance should be mandatory for those noted above and not optional as this effects all levels of our town government. I hope this meeting is packed with Reading residents because if no one attends, then any attempts to curb this serious issue will go no where.

Education on this subject starts at home. Then the community steps in to support good choices. How do some students go through Decisions and never touch drugs or alcohol and some spend a lifetime addicted?

I think programs like Decisions and DARE solidify and support what students have already been taught by their parents. I don't mean to point fingers or blame parents but maybe they should bring back those commercials where they remind parents to talk to their kids about drugs.

A lot of these problems stem from home where a parent does not want to be the disciplinarian. It is somone elses job to fix such as the school or others. Parents need to be armed with the knowledge of the behaviors and changes in their kids and not be scared to randomly drug screen their kids if their is any suspicion.
May not be popular but take away their cell phones or cars? where are the kids getting their $$ if the economy is so bad? " weed your own garden" We need to support the community and take action. I applaud Donna for getting the ball rolling on this subject, Folks it all starts at home do your own police work and find out who your kids hang with and talk to others and get educated.

I am a life long resident of Reading and have seen many people from this town die from drug overdoses or go to jail for drug related crimes. I bought a house in this town because of the terrific school system and Reading's strong community values. I now have my own kids in the school system and I am extremely concerned about the town's drug problem. All of the points listed in these comments are true...it needs to be a community effort that includes education in the schools and at home, rigorous parenting, substance abuse programs and a strong stance by town government and police.

The police know who the suspects are and while these suspects are in our town they should make their lives a living hell. Stake them out, follow them, pull them over, arrest them for small crimes, interrogate them and let them know that they are not going to get away with this in our community. If these suspects are harassed enough, they will move out of our town and bring their drugs with them. Police and town government also cannot give people a free pass because they are an old friend or a town employee. I heard for years the biggest drug dealer in town was a DPW worker. It wasn't until State Police and the US Postal Police stepped in this past winter that he was arrested. Education, rehabilitation programs, and strong parenting are crucial, but we also need to put a zero tolerance policy in place now before the younger generation follows and it is too late.

you know ive been saying this for over ten years so many of my friends have died before they reached 21 and none of it was on the news or in the paper reading has covered it up swept it under the door mat for so long and now people have had enough? do u have any idea how many kids from reading have oded are in jail or have lost there souls to drugs in reading dont forget about them

In reading some of these comments, it appears that some people expect Camille Anthony, Peter Hechenbleikner, Chief Cormier, et al to raise their kids for them....personally, I would debate the merits of such a strategy.

" fish rots from the head down" Dont expect them to do my job as a parent or to raise anyones kids. But they should not put themselves out there heading up RCASA when they have no idea what they are up against and literally have no clue not one of them except the chief who is silent. Then when something does happen no one says anything. Typical of our town just sweep it under the rug and pretned it does not happen.

Ryan, I disagree. I don't read any of these comments in the way you suggest. What is being suggested is that our town leaders actually take the lead on this important town issue. Bring the interested and relevant parties into the same room, communicate to the general public, make their work more transparent. I went to the RCASA website and the last newsletter and statistical data were from May and June 2010. That's not acceptable. Our tax dollars are funding this coalition. The community at large should be more involved in attending RCASA meetings, and insisting on input and transparency about everything they do.

OK - I get it now. 1. As a parent, I need to set an example and pay attention to what my kids are into and what their friends are into. 2. Town Management needs to monitor the problem and allocate resourses to combat it. 3. The police need to identify the bad guys and enforse the law. 4. The schools need to educate. Sounds like a plan. Let's do it.

Yes, if only it were so simple as those four steps! :) Everyone save the date of October 6th, 7pm, RMHS PAC for the next RCASA meeting. The director tells me there will also be a community event sometime in September. At a minimum, I would hope that everyone who has commented on this issue over the past two weeks would make it a priority to participate. I also plan to bring my 16 year old. Let's make it real clear to our kids that we care, we are concerned, and we are on the move. Keep the chatter and the momentum going!

Plain and simple…..this town is spening money on useless renovations around town that could be goin towards a recreation center or something like that, not including the YMCA which costs money which a lot of people cant afford. Cops sit around all the time "waiting" for speeders instead of wandering the streets looking for things like this.

I imagine that if any one of us were a fly on the wall at Police headquarters, listening to drug/burglary/sexual predator prevention & monitoring meetings, we would be amazed at what they know and what they do to combat these problems. Imagine the magnitude of the crimes they are preventing. People who make, sell and use drugs are going to get into trouble or destroy their lives or end up dead. Stop faulting the selectemen, the A.D., the D.A.R.E. program, teachers or "town improvements." It is absolutely absurd to think that a new rec center is going to make these problems go away. Talk to your kids and spend time with them, no matter what their age. Don't accept a shrug of the shoulders or one word answers to your questions. Know who they spend time with and know their parents as well. Talk to their teachers (do you think that the users/dealers are good, engaged students????). Why are we not demanding that the A.D., the police, the selectman and the teachers solve drunk driving deaths or teenage pregancy, suicides or anything else for that matter?

People....good PARENTING will prevent a lot of these issues. Take responsibility for crying out loud.

If you would like me to come and address the group about what I see across the country training parents, students, teachers, physicians, nurses, firefighters, and police officers about the signs and symptoms of dangerous street drugs of abuse, please let me know. Attorney Richard W. Kendall, North Reading, 978-664-4200

Im sorry but you parents dont have a clue the extent of the problem, THIS HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR MORE THEN 10 YEARS. Ive seen freshman shooting up heroin, you need to understand that this could have been prevented if reading didnt want to keep there bubble image. You want to help then do research and stop pretending reading is a utopian society. You need to understand the power of opiates its not like other drugs it causes apathy, long term use will turn a baseball or hockey star to a bum begging for change or looking in your house for copper they can steal. If your on the internet and posting start looking up the symptoms of opiate addiction, watch intervention, and dont think that it cant happen to your family it could be right now and you wouldnt even no.... STOP UNDERESTIMATING and do your homework

Well said Gregory. It seems to me that many of the contributors here might be parents of young children who all of a sudden are frightened by the headlines and tragedies. I'm not criticising because I was you several years ago and i had no clue about these issues. They seemed far away. at the time but they do gain on you in a hurry. Undoubtedly, no matter who your children are, they will eventually "know" someone or of someone who does drugs. Based on stories I've heard, the experimentation starts in middle schoo (speaking of pot only). And yes, those who play sports are not immune to it. Attorney Kendall - I don't know you but I thank you for offering your help. It sure beats the hysteria on this board.

Bravo Cher!!!!! Don't forget the town employees whose home was raided only to find a cache of drugs and money???? Where is he these days????

This was posted in June here on the Patch

http://reading.patch.com/blog_posts/rcasa-reaches-out-to-reduce-opiate-abuse

Quite often the Police Logs in the local papers state that teens are cited for "legal limits" of marijuana. Does the RPD then notify the parents about these citations?

Also, RIP Joe Ronan, and my condolences to his family. I knew Joe, albeit not that well, he was a very nice guy, and always seemed to have a smile on his face. I was pretty shocked when I found out what had happened. We were in the same 07 graduating class of Reading memorial High together. I didn't mean for my rant to seem insincere.

Unfortunately one of the most popular gateway drugs is ALCOHOL, which is legal.