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| signs were available from the SAFE Coalition table Saturday at the movie night on the Town Common |
"The number of opioid-related deaths in Massachusetts has increased each year since 2010, but new figures from the first half of this year offer some signs of motion in the opposite direction.
Fifty-three fewer people died of opioid overdoses in the first six months of 2017 than over the same time period last year, according to state data released Tuesday.
The latest quarterly report on opioid-related deaths in Massachusetts tracked 978 confirmed and estimated opioid deaths from January through June, a 5 percent decrease from the 1,031 in the first half of 2016.
A year ago, the Department of Public Health reported that the opioid death rate was higher for the first six months of 2016 than in the first half of the previous year."
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| http://safecoalitionma.com/ |
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| http://safecoalitionma.com/ |
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| SAFE Coalition presentation to Town Council, July 12, 2017 |
| H. Presentations/Discussions |
H. Presentation/Discussions
Safe Coalition
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| SAFE Coalition presentation to Town Council, July 12, 2017 |
"At age 15, when he was spending his mother’s money on drugs and getting drunk to hang out with friends he’d known his entire life, Chris Herren wishes someone had asked him one simple question.
Why?
“Like, with all you have going for you, why?” said Herren, the former Boston Celtics player and one-time drug user who now dedicates his life to the cause of preventing others from making the same bad choices he made.
Decades later, Herren is imploring schools to begin asking that same question of their students, promoting dialogue around the factors that lead young people to use drugs and alcohol."
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| #safe-ch0229 "I did not know that one pill was going to change my life" |
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| Dr. Ruth Potee at King Philip High School - June 15 |
"The summer before Cassidy Latham entered Brockton High School in 2013, her sister, who worked at High Point Treatment Center, approached her with a question: Would she be interested in joining a new drug use prevention program there?
Latham did not have personal or familial experience with drug use, but her sister wanted to have a variety of teenagers participate in the program. Latham had received some drug education in health classes when she attended South Middle School, where she learned about the dangers of drug use and heard from guest speakers who had struggled with addiction. But she and her peers agreed that it wasn’t entirely effective.
The program Latham joined at High Point took a remarkably different approach: The teens were given cameras and a basic question: “to what extent are drugs an issue in your community?” The camera was the device to help them answer that question."Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
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| Addiction is like “having your life locked up. The drugs just take over, it’s not even you,” wrote the photographer, Cassidy Latham of Brockton, in 2013. |
"An average of more than five Massachusetts residents died each day in 2016 from an opioid overdose, with the synthetic drug fentanyl continuing to fuel the addiction crisis.
The Department of Public Health’s most recent quarterly report provides a clearer picture of the nature of the ongoing opioid epidemic. Statewide, there were 1,933 confirmed opioid deaths in 2016, a 16 percent increase over 2015, according to the May 10 report. Heroin was present in approximately 33 percent of the deaths, while fentanyl was present in 77 percent. Fentanyl is up to 50 times more potent than heroin.
Maryanne Frangules, executive director of the nonprofit Massachusetts Organization for Addiction Recovery, said it is encouraging to see the state work to craft public policy in an effort to combat the spread of addiction. Allocating resources, collecting data and running awareness campaigns are part of the effort.
“More policymakers are listening, and more families and people in recovery are speaking up,” she said. “There is more treatment available, but it’s not at a point where it’s seamless, continuing care.”Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
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“Foxborough Police, Fire and EMS are collaborating with our community partners in an effort to bring this deadly affliction of opioid abuse under control. This problem requires an open mind and open heart and all the resources we can muster to save lives.”Foxborough Police Chief William Baker
“We are a community that is always there for our family, friends and neighbors. Overdose deaths caused by heroin and synthetic opioids have reached an all-time high. We need to strive to save those opioid overdoses by administering Narcan and save the life. Foxborough has always been known as a community that never forgets, and we need to always be there for any individual experiencing an opioid-related overdose.”Foxborough Fire Chief Roger Hatfield
“Generic Narcan (naloxone), an opioid antagonist, is perhaps the one most critical drugs in combatting overdose with heroin, fentanyl and other illicit opioids. Without this drug, untold numbers of lives, far in excess of those already lost, would have not been given the chance to battle Substance Use Disorder. It is critical that ‘Narcan’ become widely available during this prolonged and growing epidemic until we can stem the deaths associated with these opioids.”Jordan E. Warnick, Ph.D. Professor of Pharmacology & Therapeutics and Associate Dean (Ret.) University of Maryland School of Medicine and Secretary, S.A.F.E.Coalition
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| Town of Foxborough Presents Free Narcan Training and Drug Take Back Program |
"Unless organizers find someone new to take the reins, it’s possible the local Independence Day celebration will not take place this year.
The Franklin Fourth of July Coalition co-chairmen - Warren Revell and Mike Kelly - announced their retirement from the effort this year. The lack of volunteers, rather than money, is the problem, Revell said Friday.
Revell said the group has been trying to find new people to continue the event, but years of searching have borne little fruit.
“I’ve been trying to get help for 10 years,” he said. “Everybody wants (the festivities), but no one wants to do anything about it.”
"Pharmacies should proactively offer the overdose-reversing drug naloxone to help put it in the hands of people at risk of abusing opioids, according to a recent Boston Medical Center study.
The study, which was published last month in the Journal of the American Pharmacists Association, found that while naloxone is available without a prescription at Massachusetts pharmacies, patients and their loved ones are reluctant to ask for it due to the stigma that surrounds addiction. Additionally, pharmacists may be reluctant to bring up the subject out of fear of offending patients.
The Boston Medical Center researchers worked with focus groups of people taking prescription opioids for chronic pain management, recovering addicts, family members of addicts and pharmacists.
“The idea of universally offering it was attractive to all the groups,” said epidemiologist Traci Green, the study’s lead author and associate director of the Injury Prevention Center at Boston Medical Center. “This makes it a less-stigmatizing interaction at the pharmacy.”
"Several residents have approached the town about forming an agricultural commission in order to both educate people about farming and help the farms in town.
Melanie Hamblen, a co-owner of the Franklin Agway store, is one of those leading the effort. She said the group has spoken with town officials and set up a Facebook page.
“We’ve got a group of awesome people who want to educate the community about the importance of fresh food, and things like what ‘normal farming activities’ means,” she said. “We want to promote the farms we already have, and protect and preserve those farms.”
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| Franklin Agriculture Commission looking for your help (Facebook photo) |
"On Sunday, a 32-year-old woman became the 24th person in Milford to overdose on opioids so far this year.
She was the second one to die.
The unidentified woman was unresponsive when her sister found her at 3 in the afternoon.
A combination of police work, the availability of naloxone, a regional substance abuse program at the Milford Police Department, the Juvenile Advocacy Group and Amy Leone of Community Impact are pushing back hard on an opioid epidemic that is running through Massachusetts communities like a speeding freight train. Even though 80 addicts got help from those programs, some fall back on their dangerous habits."
"The high school will host later this month a talk that will help parents address the issues of substance and alcohol abuse with their teens.
The program, titled "The Other Talk," is set to take place on Wednesday, April 12 from 6 to 8 p.m. at the school's lecture hall. The talk was designed by the treatment center Caron's Student Assistance Program, and sponsored by Norfolk County District Attorney Michael Morrissey.
David Traub, a spokesman for the district attorney's office, said the talk, funded through the drunk driving trust fund, is intended to help parents as their children reach age 1."Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
"Two streets near Franklin's downtown - Alpine Place and Ruggles Street - once served as the heart of an Italian-American neighborhood in town.
Mary Olsson, the chairwoman of the Franklin Historical Commission, said the streets - especially Alpine Place - drew many newcomers to town, creating a vibrant community that is still remembered today." It seems all the old Franklin Italian names first came to Franklin and settled on Alpine Place," she said.
Jeanne D'Orazio Curry said her family lived on the street, adding that it had once seemed jam-packed. "For such a small, little street, it had a gazillion people," she said, noting that big families were common years ago. "My grandparents had 11 children, and one of them died (very young)".Continue reading the article online (subscription may be required)
"Addiction is a disease that, because it involves some of the oldest parts of the brain, is exceptionally difficult to root out, a physician told a local audience Thursday.
Dr. Ruth Potee - who is the medical director of the Franklin County House of Correction and has worked with the Opioid Task Force of Franklin County and North Quabbin - spoke at the Franklin High School auditorium that night at the invitation of the Support for Addicts and Families by Empowerment (SAFE) Coalition. She went into the roots of addiction and discussing how it affects developing adolescents.
Potee said addiction is rooted in a part of the brain - the reward center - that helped human ancestors survive.
"Our ancestors were very good at two specific behaviors: they were compulsive, and they were perseverators," she said. "These are fabulous behaviors when it comes to survival, but they're tricky behaviors when you're dealing with substance abuse disorders."
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| Glenn Jones photo via Facebook |
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| http://safecoalitionma.com/ |
