SAUGUS – A study released on opioid-related incidents in the Northeast shows that Saugus has topped the charts in opioid-related hospitalizations betw-een 2003 and 2005.Youth & Recreation Director Gregory Nickolas rallied town officials, school officials and concerned residents Wednesday to present them with this statistic that came as no surprise to him.”This helps bring people into the loop of what I’m seeing on a daily basis,” he said.The Northeast Center for Healthy Communities (NCHC) conducted the study that amassed crude rates (per 100,000) for opioid-related incidents. NCHC is part of the Greater Lawrence Family Health Center and is funded through the Massachusetts Department of Public Health Bureau of Substance Abuse Services.According to their statistics, Saugus outranked communities such as Lynn, Everett, Salisbury, Lawrence and Lowell in the number of residents who were hospitalized for opiate- related incidents.Based on a per-100,000 rate, Saugus had 521.28 hospitalizations. Lynn came in second with 421.99, followed by Medford with 403.36. Peabody, Wakefield and Nahant also made the top 10 list with 257.02, 244.13 and 267.64 respectively.Fire Chief James Blanchard was quick to point out that the statistics represent residents of the town, not incidents occurring within the town. Nickolas said even if a resident of Saugus was hospitalized while in another community for an opiate overdoes, it would be marked as a Saugus incident because they were tracking residency.”You can say it’s because of the motels, Route 1 and the mall, but this is only Saugus people and I see it everyday,” Blanchard said.Blanchard he has great faith in Nickolas’ plan to attack the problem.”I know if Greg Nickolas says this is going to happen, I know it will,” he said. “There might be obstacles but Greg is absolutely driven to overcome them.”Nickolas’ plan is to launch a comprehensive prevention program at the Belmonte Middle School beginning in the fall. The program will not only include teaching students how to make good choices, but also what a good choice is. Simultaneously, he is working on creating a mentoring program out of the high school for middle school students.”And it’s a general prevention for all high-risk behavior,” Nickolas said. “I haven’t even gotten to STDs (sexual transmitted diseases) – those numbers are ridiculous. The statistics are so alarming to not do anything is ridiculous.”The town has tried to attack the problem of substance abuse in the past through outreach groups such as Saugus Speaks Out. Nickolas was quick to pay homage to those attempts. He said they laid the groundwork for his current plan. He was also quick to praise those that have turned out to help.Wednesday’s meeting on the issue was widely attended by public safety personnel, the entire Youth Commission, school teachers and administrators from both the middle and high school, along with School Committee member Christine Wilson, Donna McNeil and Ellen Faiella of Saugus Speaks Out, Debra MacGregor from the District Attorney’s Office, Donald Wong, chairman of the Board of Selectmen and Board of Health Director Frank Giacalone.”I have complete support,” Nickolas said. “The denial is changing . . . just when I’m ready to close up shop, light dawns. The time to act is now.”