NATICK, Mass. (MyFoxBoston.com) -- Recovering addicts shared their stories with students in Natick Thursday, hoping to curb the rising number of people becoming addicted to drugs in the Commonwealth.
A new state report says 10 percent of people in the Bay State suffer from some sort of substance abuse. In fact, it is believed that within 5 minutes of any school, there is a drug dealer looking to sell to students. Addicts spoke at a school in Natick Thursday, trying to stop students from doing drugs before the opportunity arises.
Twenty-six-year-old Laura Sabatino and 24-year-old Neal Rosenthal want high school students to see that is can happen to anyone.
"I lost that person that I was, you know," Laura said. "And it took me 10 years to find out who she was again."
They're reaching students through the New Beginnings Program started by another former addict, Bill Phillips, who says in his nearly 3 decades doing this, he's never seen heroin so widespread across all age groups.
"Right now it's hitting all the young kids and it's devastating," Phillips said. "I've been in 2 years to 21 funerals and the oldest 24, the youngest 14."
Sabatino and Rosenthal are sharing their cautionary tales about how it started with alcohol and spiraled into pills and even shooting up. Sabatino who is from Waltham, has now been drug-free for 10 months. Rosenthal, of Framingham, has been clean 3 years, after he found himself homeless.
"My mother would just wait by the phone waiting for a call from the coroner's office saying you need to come down and ID your son's body," Rosenthal said.
He went on to say, "When you open your eyes and you realize that you're alone and you're addicted to drugs and you feel like there's no way out, it all wasn't worth it."
The pair is hoping their message gets through to the students. And the students tell FOX25 that it is.
"It just ruins your life," one student said referring to addiction. "You can do that but you're going to lose your relationships."
New Beginnings has reached tens of thousands of students to date and they won't stop until the heroin and drug problems are eradicated in our area.
If you would like more information on New Beginnings, visit their website at www.nbprograms.com or email Phillips at nbprograms@jpkeefehs.org.