The growing opioid/heroin epidemic has become a crisis that has impacted many families of young people who have died from an overdose.
Now the Hamburg Central Schools is taking steps to make sure parents are better informed about the signs of addiction, recognition of drugs and drug paraphenalia, symptoms and health risks of abuse, and the liability a parent has for hosting and/or purchasing alcohol and other drugs.
Parents of 8th grade students must attend a mandatory "Drug & Alcohol Parent Forum" in order for their children to participate in any high school special event or sports team. Those events include things like school dances, overnight field trips, and the Junior and Senior Prom.
The next forums are scheduled for the following dates:
-Tuesday, April 25, 2017 @ 6:30 p.m. at the Hamburg High School Auditorium
-Wednesday, August 9, 2017 @ 6:30 p.m. at the Hamburg High School Auditorium.
7 Eyewitness News Reporter Ed Reilly will have more on this story tonight and talk with Becky Barnell. Barnell's son, Colton Lasker, 23, died in 2016 from complications caused by a 10-year addiction that started when Colton was 13 years old. What started with pot and alcohol, progressed to pain pills and finally heroin.
A former Hamburg High School student, Colton died a day after being released from detox at ECMC on June 23, 2016.
This year, Colton's mother and sisters will be holding a memorial event in the Village of Hamburg on June 23, 2017 to raise awareness of substance abuse and addiction. More information is available at: http://www.cjtol.com
