WESTFIELD – An estimated 150 people attended the first community forum on the opiate crisis on Tuesday evening in the Westfield High School auditorium, sponsored by the Westfield Mayor’s Office and Westfield Police, Fire and School departments.
Mayor Brian Sullivan thanked everybody for attending.
“Never did I think that when I was elected a couple of months ago, that I’d have to be scheduling a forum on addiction,” he said.
He said after four deaths in a matter of two weeks, he made the first call to Chief of Police John Camerota and asked him what he should do. He then called a meeting of state legislators, police, fire, teachers, the health department city council, the school department and the superintendent.
“It’s touching all of us,” Sullivan said.
He said the purpose of the forum was to get information out there, make everyone aware, and answer some questions.
“Tonight’s not going to stop the problem. It is going to get us talking about it,” he said.
Sullivan then screened a movie called “Chasing the Dragon,” consisting of interviews with opiate addicts talking about their addictions, and one mother who had lost her daughter. The movie may be seen online at fbi.gov/chasingthedragon.
In the movie, statistics were intermixed with the interviews, including the fact that 44 people a day die in this country from prescription opioids. Most of the heroin addicts in the movie said they started with prescription painkillers.
Following the movie, Sullivan introduced a panel consisting of Camerota, Superintendent Suzanne Scallion, Representative John Velis, Senator Don Humason, Northwestern District Attorney David E. Sullivan, Dr. Nathan Somers, Westfield Fire Chief Mary Regan, and Director of Public Health Joseph Rouse.
Sullivan said he purposely introduced Rouse last.
“Joe Rouse and his office are the ones you guys need to reach out to, because of the resources they have,” Sullivan said. “They’ve been working on this for years. He’s a person you’re going to want to know.”
“We were looking for an answer as to what is our role,” Rouse said. “We now have some resources we didn’t have before.”
Rouse said his department has agreed to field questions from residents, and are now able to direct people to resources.
Rouse reviewed recent history on the opioid crisis, beginning in the 2000s with a spike in prescription medicine. He said prior to that, doctors were reluctant to prescribe the painkillers, but the pharmaceutical companies said they could modify the addictiveness of the drugs.
“That was all bull,” he said.
He said the presence of heroin right now is due to the Mexican cartel flooding the market.
Rouse urged residents to bring unused prescription medications to the police department, where they have a lockbox disposal. He said the Health Department is going to work on two fronts: on prevention, to try to keep the people who have not been affected from getting involved, and also by giving assistance to residents who are dealing with the problem.
“Come to us, send people to us, and we’ll put them on the right path,” Rouse said.
Somers said that the current problem of addiction to opioids started when doctors were told they were underestimating pain. He said the stories in the film were stories that he hears every day in his practice, with people being prescribed painkillers for an injury or surgery, and quickly becoming addicted, then turning to heroin when they can’t get more pills.
District Attorney Sullivan said the problem didn’t get his full attention until he had ten deaths in his community. He said he has now had 120 deaths from heroin and opioids. Sullivan said that the United States has 5 percent of the world’s population, and consumes 80 percent of the pain medications in the world.
“You are the solution,” he said. “I want everyone here to leave knowing you can solve this problem. You are Westfield strong.” Sullivan called Westfield one of the strongest communities in western Mass.
“Consider addiction to opioids, whether heroin or pills, the same way you treat people who have heart disease or cancer,” Sullivan said to applause. He said opioids change the person using them because the brain needs it. He also spoke strong words about Purdue Pharmaceuticals, who makes OxyContin, calling them “drug dealers.”
“Don’t take them to begin with. These doctors or dentists should not be giving you half this stuff,” Sullivan said. “Whatever happened to Tylenol?”
Humason said that the state is on top of the crisis, and the House and Senate have passed a bill, which is now in committee. He said the response has to come from the local communities to the state and to the federal government.
Humason also talked about a task force on marijuana that the Senate recently put together, regarding the question on the ballot about legalizing marijuana for recreational purposes.
“In the video, almost everyone started with marijuana,” Humason said. “We’re sending a mixed message to the kids. You shouldn’t drink or smoke, but pot’s okay. Pot is not a harmless drug.”
“It really hits home when you lose five people in two weeks,” said Velis. “The hardest thing is when someone comes to my office to say a loved one is hooked.”
Velis said the addiction is destroying families. He also chastised the House and Senate for having a bill in committee for a month and a half.
“Kids are dying,” Velis said. “If there is any issue we should not be political on, it’s this issue.”
Velis blamed doctors for prescribing drugs in too casual a manner, and said the state is going to create a database on bed availability for treatment of addiction.
Regan said the fire department is also seeing an uptick of calls relating to drug abuse, averaging four overdose calls a week in Westfield. Regan said they are administering Narcan on almost half of their calls, and performing CPR on people ages 16-60.
“A lot of times family members have no idea what’s going on,” Regan said.
Following the panel comments, Mayor Sullivan fielded questions from the audience. Subjects ranged from low bail for drug dealers to questions about how the schools are going to educate the children in the community. The call to bring suit against pharmaceutical companies was also raised, as well as a concern about the use of painkillers among student athletes who are self-medicating.
District Attorney Sullivan responded that people who traffic and possess large amounts of heroin and oxy are going to be treated very severely.
Velis said that holding pharmaceutical companies accountable is being talked about right now.
“I think it would be great for pharmaceutical companies to create a fund,” Velis said. “Four out of five people using heroin got hooked on pharmaceutical drugs.”
Scallion said that the Westfield Public School District already has an outstanding prevention program in place, with the highest number of adjustment counselors. She also said that she wanted to hear more about problems with self-medicating in the sports program, and urged that person to call her.
Scallion spoke about planned upcoming informational sessions, including the next community forum on Tuesday, March 15 at 7 p.m. at the Technical Academy, supporting families impacted by addiction.
Also planned is an educational forum with Dr. Ruth Potee on addiction and the teen brain, scheduled for Wed., March 30 at 6:30 p.m. in South Middle School’s cafeteria.
