Opiate Education Campaign Moves Into Library

ARLINGTON—A new display is up at Robbins Library this month. The Arlington Opiate Outreach Initiative, run through the Arlington Police Department, has a board with information and resources about addition available to the public.

The program was created to allow police officers to get involved in the demand side of the heroin and opiate crisis by working with a public health clinician to conduct direct outreach to known substance users and families. The Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative (P.A.A.R.I.) in Gloucester funded the beginning of the project in 2015 with a $5,000 grant, and is working to distribute opioid blocking drugs to reverse overdoses. The community display is part of the education portion of the outreach.

Captain Richard Flynn Investigations Commander at the department, told Patch, "By bringing this information into the open we hope to reduce the stigma of addiction so people will request help. In doing so we hope to reduce overdoses and the loss of life connected to this epidemic."

The board explains the opiate outreach program, shows and Arlington by-the-numbers graphic, maps of deaths in Middlesex County and Arlington, drug kiosk drop off info, a list of community partners, and a list of where and how to get free Naloxone in Massachusetts. Naloxone is used to treat narcotic overdoses in emergency situations.

More than 20 overdose deaths occurred in Middlesex County in just March and April of 2016. Last September, the Police and Fire Department responded to three overdose cases over Labor Day weekend. All three victims were revived—two with Nalaxone.

Image: Creative Commons