Monday, 8/28 6-8pm on the Wayland Town Building field. 41 Cochituate Rd., Wayland – Opioid Awareness Resource Night
Please join us for a Regional Opioid Awareness Resource Night.
Remember those lives we’ve lost to opioid overdose. Listen to speakers who have lived experience with the impact of opioids, collect resources, speak to providers, and meet prevention teams. Learn about the life saving impact of Narcan. Organizations present will include MOAR Recovery, Learn to Cope, Natick 180, Hopkinton Organizing for Prevention, Wayland Cares, Turning Point, Medfield Outreach, and Wayland Youth and Family Services.
Public Health Nurses from Wayland, Weston and the Great Meadows Public Health Collaborative will be on hand to offer education and free Narcan Nasal Spray to anyone who would like to have it. Information and resources are available here.
Purple flags will be placed this week by Wayland Youth and Family Services at the Rt. 20/27 intersection to mark the Massachusetts record high opioid-related deaths: Preliminary state data shows there were 2,357 overdose deaths in 2022. That’s 57 more deaths than in 2021, and an increase of 9% from the highest point before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The most dramatic increase, according to the data released by the Department of Public Health, was among Black people who use drugs. The preliminary numbers show overdose deaths rose 42%. It’s more proof of racial disparities in the drug overdose crisis. Many factors contribute including this: Black drug users are less likely to receive medications used to treat an addiction. Researchers find that’s a result of decades of misguided medication and treatment policies.
From the local and regional public health perspective our goal is to raise awareness and normalize conversations about opioid harm reduction and treatment. We can do this by increasing access to Narcan: making it free and easy to get – no questions asked. The deadly synthetic opioid Fentanyl was present in 93% of people who died after an overdose in 2022. 50,000 free Narcan nasal spray kits were distributed in the first six months of 2023 in Massachusetts, and these have reversed at least 700 potentially fatal overdoses so far this year. Now that Narcan brand naloxone is available over the counter there is State-wide concern that it will be unaffordable for many who need it. We can make a difference!
Spread the word! Please come to remember, to listen, and to learn. Contact Michele Fronk Schuckel, Public Health Nurse, with questions 781-786-5033.
Event flyer online here: Opioid Awareness Event 8-28-23
