AG Healey to Address October Frum on Opioids
State Attorney General Maura Healey has been invited to be the keynote speaker at “The Opioid Crisis: Identifying Community Solutions in Arlington,” a forum to be held Tuesday, Oct. 13, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Town Hall.
Opiate image for forum
The Arlington Youth Health & Safety Coalition — which has representation from the Arlington Public Schools, School Committee, Selectmen, Police Department, Fire Department, clergy, LGBT community, parents and students — is organizing the event.
The following panelists will present on the topic of identifying solutions to the opioid issues in Arlington:
– Moderator Frederick Ryan, Arlington Police Chief;
– Marian Ryan, Middlesex district attorney;
– Mike Duggan, founder of Wicked Sober;
– Rebecca Wolfe, Arlington Police Department clinical responder; and
– Dr. Alex Walley, Boston Public Health Commission’s Opioid Treatment Program.
‘No community untouched’
Following the panel discussion is a question-and-answer session.
Forum participants will learn how prescription drug abuse and opioid addiction affects all members of our community, the facts about the disease of addiction, and the options for treatment and recovery, a news release says.
“No community has gone untouched by this opioid crisis, and that includes our own,” Chief Ryan said in the release. “I strongly encourage members of the Arlington community to attend this event. It is imperative that we understand that addiction is a disease and requires treatment like any other disease. As a community, we must begin to identify a solution in order to prevent future addicts from this terrible disease and to help those currently suffering to overcome it.”
Ryan is projecting that the number of fatal and nonfatal overdoses in Arlington will double this year from 2014. Overdoses killed more people nationwide than car accidents in 2014, the release from John Guilfoil says.
“Opioid abuse disorder affects every member of our community — the disease of addiction does not discriminate,” said Ivy Laplante, director of the Arlington Youth Health & Safety Coalition. “It is up to us, as a community, to come together to identify solutions to aid in long-term recovery.”
The coalition is a division of the Department of Health and Human Services made up of a variety of community members, including: parents, students, school personnel, faith-based organizations, government officials, substance-abuse preventionists and members of law enforcement. Its members believe it is uniquely placed within the community to respond to opiate issues.
Through a comprehensive prevention strategy, the coalition works firsthand to reduce availability of these substances, change community norms and foster a community where youth choose to live substance free.
Creating a climate
“In order to combat this crisis, we need to come together as a community to talk about it,” said James Feeney, acting director of Health and Human Services. “By furthering the conversation around opioid addiction, we can hope to reduce the stigma associated with it and create a climate where those families in Town facing a crisis are comfortable seeking help.”
The forum is open to the media, and the public is encouraged to attend.