The Berkshire Eagle reported May 22 that the plan is endorsed by Sen. Steven Tolman (D-Brighton), chair of the legislature's Mental Health and Substance Abuse Committee, as well as the Romney administration. "We need to find ways to have more support services for people suffering from this dreaded disease," said Tolman.

Researchers say that up to 90 percent of addicted students relapse if they return to their original high schools, but that the opposite is true when students enroll in special sobriety schools. The schools include counseling sessions, but not full-fledged treatment programs, and the theory is that they are more "drug-free" that the average high school.

Without such schools, argues Massachusetts Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey, students in recovery often face the choice of giving up on their education or risking "being drawn back into the life of a drug addict."

The proposed schools would be opened in Springfield and Boston by January 2006 and accommodate about 50 students each.

"I know ... we've had kids who go away for some serious treatment, and coming back to the same environment has been very difficult for kids -- more so than adults," said Lowell High School Headmaster Bill Samaras.  "To remove them from the process is one of the best things that can happen. If it's a totally healthy environment, it works."

There currently are about 25 recovery-oriented high schools in the U.S., said Andrew Finch, director of the Tennessee-based Association of Recovery Schools. Funding issues and lack of community understanding are often the biggest challenges to opening such schools, he said. "The expense of a small school with a very specific population is a huge barrier year after year for every school, and it's a barrier for schools getting open," said Finch.

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