Volunteers Needed to Help Organize a Prescription Drug Awareness Month

April Rovero, who lost her own son to a drug overdose, wants to spread the word of the dangers of doctor-OK'd drugs.

April Rovero wants to make February through March 2012 a Prescription Drug Awarness Month. But the founder of the National Coalition Against Prescription Drug Abuse needs the community's help to make it happen. Rovero will hold a meeting with some volunteers on Monday but anyone who wants to help is invited to attend. Just email her at arovero@comcast.net for more info. Rovero, a San Ramon resident, lost her son to an accidental painkiller overdose in December 2009. She founded the NCAPDA shortly after to spread awareness of the dangers of doctor-approved drugs. The Rx drug awareness month will consist of a series of workshops, assemblies and other events and campaigns at all middle and high schools in the San Ramon Valley. To quote the …

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San Ramon Mom Featured in Documentary About Prescription Drug Abuse

April Rovero speaks on camera about losing her son to an accidental overdose of painkillers and alcohol.

It's been a year and a half since Joey Rovero, a San Ramon native and senior at Arizona State University, died in his sleep, his heart slowed to a stop by a fatal mix of prescription pain killers and alcohol. Since the morning of Dec. 18, 2009, his mother, April Rovero, has turned her painful story into a platform to educate the nation about the dangers of doctor-OK'd drugs. Just weeks after Joey's death, Rovero founded the National Coalition Against Prescription Drug Abuse and has since spoken across the country and before Congress about the rise of medication abuse. The Rovero story is one of two narratives included in a documentary about prescription drug abuse produced by students at Joey's alma mater. "The Pill Problem" is a 25-minute…

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Law Enforcement Crisis: Dirty DUI Arrests and Drug Deals

Defendants in Police Corruption Case Plead Not Guilty

Four former police officers charged in the scandal appeared in court today.

Patch Staff and Bay City News – Louis Lombardi, the most recent suspect arrested in connection with a police corruption case in Contra Costa County, pleaded not guilty Thursday to several charges related to the alleged conspiracy. Lombardi, 38, a former San Ramon police officer, has been charged along with former Central Contra Costa County Narcotic Enforcement Team Cmdr. Norman Wielsch, 50; former private investigator and Antioch police Officer Christopher Butler, 49; and former Danville police Officer Stephen Tanabe, 47. The four men appeared in Contra Costa County Superior Court in Walnut Creek Thursday morning, where Wielsch, Butler and Tanabe re-entered not guilty pleas to a 38-count amended complaint. Charges against the men include …

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Volunteers, Law Enforcement Collected 800 Pounds of Prescription Drugs

National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day took place on April 30.

Law enforcement and volunteers collected 790 pounds of prescribed and over-the-counter medications in five local cities during National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day last weekend. San Ramon-based National Coalition Against Prescription Drug Abuse and Mother's With a Purpose teamed up with police departments in San Ramon, Dublin, Pleasanton, Danville and Walnut Creek to collect the unused prescription drugs. The Doughterty Valley San Ramon Rotary and Teen Council were also involved in the event.  The take-back is a national effort spearheaded by the Drug Enforcement Agency. The goal of it is to toss out unneeded medication before anyone has a chance to abuse it. "Keeping our medications locked up and getting rid of those we don't need is …

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Police Collecting Unwanted Prescription Drugs Saturday

San Ramon residents are encouraged to bring their unwanted prescription medications to the San Ramon Regional Medical Center this weekend to toss them away safely.

Got unwanted prescription drugs lying around in your home? Bring them to the San Ramon Regional Medical Center between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday. As part of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s second National Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, the San Ramon Police Department will give the public the opportunity to rid their homes of unwanted, unused or expired prescription drugs, police announced Monday in a press release. Police said the service, which is free and anonymous, aims to prevent prescription drug abuse and theft. “Medicines that languish in home cabinets are highly susceptible to diversion, misuse and abuse,” police said. “Rates of prescription drug abuse in the U.S. are alarmingly high, as are the number of accidental …

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Study Shows Growing Trend in Ecstasy, Marijuana Use Among Teens

The 22nd annual Partnership Aptitude Tracking Study recorded a 67-percent jump from 2008 to 2010 in the number of teens who reported using ecstasy.

Teen drug use spiked in the past few years after a decade on the decline, according to a just-released national survey. The annual Partnership Aptitude Tracking Study recorded a 67-percent jump from 2008 to 2010 in the number of teens who reported using ecstasy. Six percent of teens said they tried the stimulant in 2008 compared to 10 percent of those surveyed last year, the study shows. Past-year marijuana use increased 22 percent within those two years as well, from 32 percent of teens reportedly using it in 2008 to 39 percent in 2010. About a quarter of teens surveyed said they tried their first alcoholic drink by the age of 12. By age 15, more than 60 percent had tried their first drink. Forty-five percent of teens surveyed said they …

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Teen Robbed at Gunpoint, Police Looking for Suspects

Police say a teen trying to buy drugs was robbed at gunpoint in Village Green Park last week.

Authorities are looking for two men who robbed a teenager last week in what police say was a drug deal gone bad. The teen was looking to buy some marijuana from a dealer he didn’t know, who was supposedly from Dublin, police said. The dealer picked up the teen in a black, two-door Toyota and told him that they would go pick up the drugs, according to San Ramon police Lt. Dan Pratt. The suspect then drove the teen to Village Green Park off of Triana Way shortly after 10 p.m. March 29. The victim said that when he got out of the car, another suspect who was hiding in the trunk popped out and pulled a gun on him. The driver and the second suspect punched and robbed the teen of his backpack and cell phone before driving off, Pratt said. The …

Cal High Student Campaigns to Raise Awareness of DUI Dangers

One senior tries to make a difference by organizing a DUI Awareness Week at Cal High.

A phone call on Oct. 20, 2007 changed Ken Williams' life forever. His daughter, Laurel, a Foothill High School graduate, had been killed in a car wreck when the driver, who had a blood alcohol content three times the legal limit, crashed head-on with another vehicle. Williams shared his story with the juniors and seniors of California High School in an assembly Friday meant to raise awareness about the dangers of driving under the influence. Williams, a basketball coach at Cal High, was one of four speakers at the assembly. Clinton Pruette, a San Ramon Valley firefighter-paramedic, April Rovero, whose son died of a prescription drug overdose, and Student Resource Officer Hollis Tong also shared their stories. "There's the need to hold some…

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Kids Keeping Kids Off Drugs

A local anti-drug organization is using 'positive peer pressure' to send a message to keep clean.

An annual peer-to-peer anti-drug conference will be held at California High School on Saturday. The Youth-to-Youth Conference is the creation of the anti drug and alcohol organization San Ramon Valley Community Against Substance Abuse. The nonprofit was founded in 1986 as a way for parents to keep their kids drug-free by bringing together middle- and high-school students, city leaders and community members to educate youth. The conference is the organization’s 17th annual community drug prevention and youth leadership program. The daylong gathering is staffed by high-school students and uses “the powerful influence of peer pressure” to teach middle-school students the dangers of violence and drug use. The Youth to Youth conference is …

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Candlelight Vigil a Celebration of Life

Joey Rovero would have been 22 years old this year. The San Ramon man died in December 2009 from a fatal drug overdose.

More than 50 people showed up to remember the life of a San Ramon man who died of a prescription drug overdose one year ago. Joey Rovero was 21 years old when he died. Family, friends and others from the community gathered in the cold at Memorial Park around a tree that was planted for Joey on what would have been his 22nd birthday. Despite a rainy weather forecast, nothing but a light mist settled on the crowd as they ascended the candle-lined steps toward Joey's tree, where the memorial was to take place. "I've been praying for a break in the weather," said Joey's mom, April Rovero. "I really hope it stays like this long enough for us to do the memorial." April Rovero founded the National Coalition Against Prescription Drug Abuse in …

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