Oxycontin News Blog

With cutouts of tombstones in one hand and a microphone in the other, Taylor Clark had one message for the hundreds of youths and parents sitting on the bleachers at G.T. Bray park during Freedom Fest 2007 on Saturday afternoon.

"Don't die," said the lanky 20-year-old as he stood on the park's band shell stage. "The end of Todd's story is that he died."

Clark lost his longtime friend, schoolmate and fellow musician, Todd Purifoy, who took his own life two years ago after struggling with drug addiction.

Drug use has become an epidemic among the youth, and Clark was hoping that by telling the story of how he lost his friend, it would inspire youths attending the festival to stay away from drugs and alcohol.

"The majority of our youth are on the fence right now about drugs and alcohol, and that's a very dangerous place to be," he said. "To that one person, a message like this could change their life."

Freedom Fest was organized by Ruth Lyerly, Purifoy's mother and a member of the Manatee County Substance Abuse Coalition, which sponsored the event.

The festival combined a battle of the bands competition with information about substance abuse. Four bands vied for the chance to win five hours of recording time at a local studio.

"We were trying to get a message across, even if it was a small message," said Lyerly.

Country music star Daron Norwood was on hand to perform for the crowd and tell his own story of drug and alcohol addiction.

"I had it all," he said. "I had hits on CMT, but I was drinking myself to death."

Since getting sober in 1995, Norwood developed his own program, "Keeping it Straight USA," and has been taking his drug-free message to schools for the past 10 years. Mixing music with a drug-free message is a good way to reach out to youth because everyone likes music, he said.

"Music is important, but it's not everything," said Norwood. "It's a tool like everything else. It's not up to me whether I've sold it or not. It's just the truth."

Cindy Harney's son, Garrett, was among those pictured. He died last August at the age of 20 from an overdose of Oxycontin. In the weeks that followed his death, she attended the funerals of five of his friends.

Harney said the abuse of drugs, especially prescription drugs, is a problem among the youth. A young girl recently told her teens are becoming the "prescription drug" generation and most know someone who has either died from drugs or is recovering from addiction.

"It's horrific," she said. "Little do we know what these drugs will do."

It wasn't prescription drugs, but cocaine that ultimately led Mike Beberwyk down a "dark road," before he was jailed for selling stolen goods and forced to get clean. He has been sober for two years.

"If your friends do it, it seems normal to do it," he said. "They're going to kill themselves if they keep doing it. I almost did."

The rally against substance abuse continues with "More than Music," 1 p.m. today at McKechnie Field, featuring Daron Norwood. The event is free.

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