Sen. Markey Addresses Opioid Crisis at Watertown Campaign Stop

U.S. Sen. Edward Markey speaks with Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan, right, and Town Council Vice President Vincent Piccirilli before an event in Watertown. Former State Rep. Rachel Kaprielian is standing next to Markey. Even as people face a pandemic, U.S. Sen. Edward Markey said another epidemic continues to threaten the health of people in Watertown, Massachusetts and across the nation: opioid addiction. The Democrat attracted to a few dozen supporters (and a couple detractors passing by on Main Street) to a campaign event at a balmy Saltonstall Park on Monday afternoon. Markey recalled how in 2014 he was in Taunton to address a Martin Luther King Jr. Day event and when he asked the Town Manager what the biggest problem in town was, he was told that they were having a rash over overdoses.

Learn How to Save Someone from an Overdose at Free Naloxone Training

Wayside Youth & Family Network shared the announcement that free training on how to use the anti-overdose medication Nalaxone will be offered in August. The training on how to use the Nalaxone (also known by the commercial name Narcan) nasal spray will be offered online, an is being run by the Cambridge Public Health Department. Read the event announcement below:

Are you worried about overdoses happening where you work or live? Wondering how you can help prevent an overdose?  Come and learn skills that could save lives. The Cambridge Public Health Department offers free overdose prevention and response trainings on a monthly basis to the community and free on-site trainings for groups by appointment.    This comprehensive 1.5-hour training includes:

Up-to-date information about the opioid crisis in Cambridge.How to distinguish between overdose and non-emergency situations, such as drunkenness.   What to do if you see someone in trouble.How to access naloxone (Narcan™), the overdose reversal medication.  

To learn more, please contact Tali Schiller at the Cambridge Public Health Department at naschiller@challiance.org.

Middlesex Sheriff, Sen. Markey Announce Effort to Increase Opioid Treatment in Jails

Sheriff Peter Koutoujian and Sen. Ed Markey spoke about a joint effort to expand opioid treatment in jails. The following information was provided by the Middlesex Sheriff’s Office:

Senator Edward J. Markey (D – MA) joined Middlesex Sheriff Peter J. Koutoujian Wednesday for a private roundtable discussion with staff and inmates at the Middlesex Jail & House of Correction about efforts to expand opioid treatment in jails. Senator Markey visited Billerica to discuss the Middlesex Sheriff’s Office nationally recognized Medication Assisted Treatment And Directed Opioid Recovery (MATADOR) program and talk about his recently filed Community Re-Entry through Addiction Treatment to Enhance (CREATE) Opportunities Act.  The bipartisan CREATE Opportunities Act, which has been endorsed by both the Major County Sheriffs of America and the National Sheriffs’ Association, would authorize the creation of a federally funded grant program allowing local jurisdictions to provide access to medication-assisted treatment (MAT) in correctional facilities. “We were honored to have Senator Markey visit and meet with those directly impacted by this crisis and who will most benefit from the critical, bipartisan legislation he has filed,” said Sheriff Koutoujian.  “The Senator has been a true leader and partner in efforts to identify and support initiatives like our MATADOR program to tackle the opioid crisis.  Passage of this legislation would benefit jurisdictions large and small across the country and greatly enhance our capabilities as we prepare for the expanded MAT pilot here in the Commonwealth.”

Since the launch of MATADOR in the fall of 2015, 82 percent of participants who successfully completed six months in the program have not recidivated and 96 percent of all participants – regardless of whether they had completed the program – had not succumbed to a fatal post-release overdose. “Our county jails are an indispensable partner in ending the opioid overdose crisis once and for all,” said Senator Markey.

Free Screening of Addiction Documentary to be Followed by Discussion by Experts

Wayside Youth & Family Support Network’s Multi-Service Center and PBS’ science series, NOVA, are holding a screening of the documentary, Addiction. The screening is free and open to the public. The film, produced by NOVA, a program of WGBH Boston, takes a hard look at the science of addiction. Addiction features firsthand accounts from individuals and families struggling with opioid addiction. While addiction has long been viewed as a moral failing, leading scientists will help viewers understand why addiction is a disorder that occurs as a result of drugs profoundly altering the brain.

Watertown Middle School Students Collect Items for People Battling Opioid Addiction

Eighth graders at Watertown Middle School collected cold weather items for people overcoming addiction at a program at Mass. General Hospital. This was the first activity for the group working to help those trying to overcome addiction. In their first effort to help patients trying to overcome addiction, a group of Watertown Middle School students collected clothes and other items to help homeless people in need. Before winter break, a group fo WMS students held an ugly sweater party, to which they were asked to bring a new, cold weather item for a homeless adult in need, such as backpack, new socks, mittens, knit hat, or scarves, according to Watertown School Committee member Amy Donohue.

Candlelight Vigil Planned to Remember Those Lost to Drug Overdoses

The following information was provided by Watertown Overcoming Addiction:

Watertown Overcoming Addictions’ 4th annual Candlelight Vigil will take place Nov. 7, 2018 at 7 p.m. at St. Patrick’s Church, 212 Main St., Watertown, in the Lower Hall. Drug overdose is the leading cause of accidental deaths in the United States
More than 72,000 Americans died from accidental overdose in 2017
More teens die from prescription drugs than heroin and cocaine combined
Join us as we remember those who we have lost to the disease of substance use disorder. If you would like your loved one included please send their picture, name, birthdate and passing date to watertownvigil@gmail.com

Narcan will be available.