The staff of District Attorney Thomas Quinn III's Office teamed up with the Bristol County Underage Substance Use Prevention Task Force to offer a day-long Teen Safety Summit at the Venus deMilo Restaurant in Swansea on April 5, 2017. Over 350 youth and their adult advisors gathered to hear opening remarks by Attorney Quinn and a keynote presentation on addiction by Sean Moore. Mr. Moore is the CEO of Precision Labs in Ohio and the Founder of Isle of Palms Recovery Centers in Florida who came back from the vice grip of addiction to share a message of recovery and hope. "Here's my message to you," he concluded. "I want you to cut off your arm before you use opiates. Don't ever trust them, ever. There are so many other ways you can deal with pain," he added. His talk was followed by workshops covering street gangs, cyber safety, stress management for teens, the signs of impairment related to marijuana use, and human trafficking for teens and young adults.  Click here for a 50-minute video of the keynote. For more information about the summit, contact April Cabrera at 508-961-1983.

(Top row) Bristol County District Attorney's Office Community Affairs Unit Program Manager Eric Poulin hands out materials at the registration desk while Lance Tehan, Kiara Loa, and Aylssa Jusseaume of SSTAR and Taunton Department of Human Services Director Anne Bisson table at the event along with representatives of AAA of New England. (Row two) Laura Washington of Isle of Palms Recovery Centers poses for a photo with District Attorney Thomas Quinn III before he talks with keynote speaker Sean Moore. (Row three) April Cabrera of the DA's Office calls on Sgt. Jacob Dennett of the Norton Police Department to introduce Mr. Moore. (Row four) Mr. Moore describes his years growing up and how be became addicted to opioids and finally sought treatment. (Row five) Ismael Rivera, Justin Nieves-Rodriguez and Donelle Ortiz of the Resiliency Preparatory Academy listen as Diman Regional High School Adjustment Counselor Michaela Hetzler describes the peace pledge poster that April holds up before groups go to their workshops, including one on street gangs with the Fall River Police Department Gang Unit. (Row six) Stephanie Joyale of the Children's Advocacy Center talks about cyber safety, and Dr. Trenice Lewis Harris of the Cambridge Health Alliance talks about improving stress management for teens. (Bottom row, left and center) Kathleen Gately of  the 1a1 Human Trafficking Prevention Program at Anchor Ministries talks about human trafficking while Detective Peter Buick of the Northwest County DA's Office talks about the signs of impairment related to marijuana use. (Bottom row, right) Michael Jackman of Congressman William Keating's office talks with Rachael Davis of Southcoast Health during the break.