Kitty Dukakis joins panel addressing students about drug abuse

"Those of us who've had a problem with drugs and alcohol have a special obligation to help others," Dukakis told a crowd of more than 200 parents and students in the high school auditorium Thursday.

Dukakis was part of a panel of doctors, students, fellow recovering addicts and experts addressing the problem of drug and alcohol abuse among teenagers and how parents can get involved to recognize signs of substance abuse and stop their kids from making bad decisions.

Val Goldstein and Kerry Knott, two Brookline High seniors who sat on the panel as members of the school's Peer Leaders group, said alcohol and marijuana use are two of the biggest problems among their fellow students.

But Knott said that more recently Peer Leaders have heard a lot more about prescription drug abuse at the school, and Peer Leaders have been trying to discuss the problem with their fellow students.

"So many people know that it's happening, but aren't bringing it to the surface and really discussing it," Knott said. "So we took today to really spread the word to administrators, to students, to parents, everybody in the community, about prescription drug use in hopes that educating everybody about it will help to change the culture."

Dukakis, who graduated from Brookline High School in 1954, was a freshman at the school while her future husband, former Gov. Michael Dukakis, was a senior. She said the school has meant a great deal to her and she hopes to help turn the tide of substance abuse that remains a problem among children in the town.

She said her own battle with addiction began when she was 19 and wanted to lose weight to fit into her wedding dress for her first marriage.

"I found my mothers stash of amphetamines and began taking them before my wedding," she said. "I had no idea that amphetamines were addictive."

After continuing to use the drugs for more than 20 years, she said she began drinking in part to come down from the amphetamines. She first sought treatment when Michael Dukakis was running for governor, and immediately stopped taking amphetamines. 

"The drinking continued, and it took many rehabs later before I was sober," she said.
Now Dukakis said she thinks it's important for her and others who've battled addiction to share what they know with adolescents today.

The discussion Thursday was co-sponsored by the Brookline Coalition Against Substance Abuse, the Brookline Public Health Department and Janie Kritzman, founder of the Jeremy S. Kritzman Initiative on Drugs and Alcohol. Other sponsors are the Brookline High School Parent Teacher Organization and B-PEN (Brookline Parent Education Network).

-Brock Parker can be reached at brock.parker@gmail.com