Tri-Town Hosts U.S. Atty. Neronha at Ferri Middle School

JOHNSTON – U.S. Atty. Peter Neronha is scheduled to visit Nicholas A. Ferri Middle School to deliver a drug abuse awareness presentation on June 18, 2015, beginning at 9:15 a.m. Hosted by the Johnston Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition and Tri-Town Community Action Agency, the visit by Neronha and Investigator David Neill is expected to cover several topics, including e-cigarettes, tobacco, prescription drugs, and marijuana.

“We are honored to have Atty. Neronha join us in delivering important information to our students about avoiding drugs and alcohol,” said Patricia Sweet, Youth Prevention Director at Tri-Town and coordinator of the Substance Abuse Coalition. “As a law enforcement official who is working on the front lines to fight the spread of dangerous drugs in the community, Mr. Neronha has a unique perspective on the damage that drug abuse can do.”

Neronha is expected deliver a message of encouragement to the students, urging them to make healthy decisions. As he said in a recent appearance at Juanita Sanchez School: “All of you have unique gifts and talents that can take you anywhere you want to go if you make the right choices about how to live your life.”

Ferri Middle School Principal Dennis Morrell explained that the timing of Neronha’s visit may be helpful in leaving students with a positive message before the end of the school year.

“As educators, we want to ensure that students take their lessons home with them over the summer,” Morrell said. “Just as we encourage them to keep up their academic skills to prepare for the next school year, it’s also critical that we give them the tools to make positive decisions and avoid the temptations of alcohol and drug misuse that can be more pronounced during the summer months.”

Tri-Town CEO Joe DeSantis welcomed Neronha’s visit as a further example of the agency’s work toward preventing drug and alcohol abuse among teens and young adults.

“While students in Johnston are generally using drugs with less frequency, new products like E-cigs and the recent approval of medical marijuana in Rhode Island can lead to confusion among young people about the threats that tobacco and pot still pose to their health. In addition, alcohol misuse among teens remains a major concern, with the percentage of Johnston middle school students reporting alcohol consumption nearly doubling, from 8 to 15 percent, between 2012 and 2014,” DeSantis explained. “Tri-Town and the Johnston Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition work tirelessly to remind our students that the best way to prevent drug and alcohol misuse is simply to not start using them.”

Data source:

RI Kids Count, 2012-13; Rhode Island Department of Education SurveyWorks, 2013-2014.