Canton opts for community-driven approach in fight against substance abuse

An extended version of this story appears in the May 26 print edition of the Canton Citizen.

Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton has popularized the idea that “it takes a village to raise a child.” This quote, borrowed from a traditional African proverb, is analogous to what has occurred in Canton in the ongoing fight against substance abuse and addiction.

On May 9, town meeting voters authorized the creation of an official Substance Abuse Committee, which will launch with a budget of $10,000 and submit an annual report of activities to selectmen and town meeting. The new seven-member committee is essentially a formalized version of the existing Canton Alliance Against Substance Abuse (CAASA) and will consist of representatives from the Fire, Police, School, Health, and Parks and Recreation departments.

The Board of Selectmen is expected to soon make the appointments, and according to BOS Chairman John Connolly, most if not all of the key players now serving on CAASA will remain involved.

This includes Fire Chief Charles Doody, Police Chief Ken Berkowitz, Assistant Recreation Director Nick Pirelli, and Interim School Superintendent Jen Henderson, all of whom have brought their own expertise and unique perspectives to the effort. Selectman Bob Burr has also been an active participant, working with youth sports groups over the past year to facilitate substance abuse training sessions for coaches.

The forerunner to CAASA was the Canton Substance Abuse Prevention Coalition, launched in October 2013 by chiefs Doody and Berkowitz and former School Superintendent Jeff Granatino. At a School Committee meeting announcing the formation of the group, the three founders pledged to pool their resources and come up with an education plan in an effort to get to the root cause of substance abuse among local youths and identify possible solutions.

“Every town and city is going through this,” Berkowitz told the committee at the time. “We are no better or worse than anyone else, but I am tired of reading about overdose reports.”

In addition to sponsoring programs for parents and trainings for area pharmacists, the coalition hosted a series of community events for teens and also helped to shine a light on the growing opiate epidemic, which Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker has called one of the commonwealth’s “most pressing public health emergencies.”

The issue gained further exposure locally in a series of articles published in the Canton Citizen last spring, including a March report that featured interviews with former addicts as well as statistics and remarks provided by the two chiefs.

Doody, for instance, told the Citizen that the Canton Fire Department was responding to 30 to 40 overdoses per year — up considerably from the half dozen or so annually that they dealt with a decade earlier.

Berkowitz emphasized that even one overdose death per year was a “huge” problem, and in June he turned directly to Twitter to warn the community about a potent batch of heroin in the area that was linked to two overdoses in Canton, including one fatality. In a follow-up op-ed piece that he co-authored with Chief Doody, Berkowitz explained his rationale for issuing the public warning while the two chiefs outlined the steps taken by the Police and Fire departments to combat the issue in the community.

The following month, Burr called on his fellow selectmen to consider implementing a mandatory substance abuse training session for youth sports coaches prior to each season. Burr said he took a personal interest following the overdose death of a young Canton man who he had coached in Little League.

“We had to get the word out and I give all the credit to Charlie, Kenny, and Jen for all the work they have done,” Burr said. “I think what we did at town meeting, forming an official committee and making a report annually to town meeting, is a very good thing because it educates the townspeople every year about what is going on.”

Burr said he has since learned a lot about the relationship between sports and opiate addiction and how, for some, it starts with a prescription for painkillers following an injury. “Some walk away, some addicts don’t,” he said.

At the suggestion of longtime American Legion coach Al Jackson, Burr organized a talk on substance abuse at the Legion’s season-ending awards banquet. The talk by Doody and Police Lt. Charles Rae about treating victims out in the field was blunt, honest and impactful, and similar events have since been held for fall youth sports coaches and in the spring for Little League coaches.

“I am not an expert in addiction, but [Chief Doody], Lt. Rae, and Chief Berkowitz are,” Burr said. “It’s worthwhile to hear what they have to say.”

For Doody, the community’s work around substance abuse awareness and prevention has been meaningful and productive, drawing on the collective expertise of local leaders in the areas of public health, emergency services, education, and recreation. “I think this is a good cross section to combat the issue,” he said.

Regarding the current opiate problem in Canton, Doody said the number of fatalities has come down a bit, but the Fire Department is “still responding to calls for drug use weekly, if not daily.”

Beginning in June 2015, Doody enlisted Jamie Meier, head of Canton’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS) department, to track overdose statistics, and in the nearly 12 months since there have been 26 individuals treated in Canton with the opiate reversal drug Narcan, including two fatalities over the last seven months of 2015 and one so far this year …

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Posted by Mike Berger on May 27 2016. Filed under Features. Both comments and pings are currently closed.