ITEM FILE PHOTO
An audience reacts to a January 2017 showing of “If Only” at the Marblehead Veterans Middle School Performing Arts Center.
By GAYLA CAWLEY
SWAMPSCOTT — Swampscott Police Chief Ronald Madigan said the town is not immune to the opioid epidemic and addiction.
Building on the work of the Swampscott Overdose Response Team, the police department and town will be bringing more awareness to the issue on March 9, with the screening of the short film, “If Only,” which highlights the dangers of prescription drug and opioid misuse and abuse. The film will be shown at Swampscott High School at 7 p.m.
The film is presented by the Mark Wahlberg Foundation and was produced by Executive Director James Wahlberg. The screening will be followed by an interactive discussion about drug use and addiction, featuring a panel of local experts, a licensed physician, people in recovery from addiction, and family members who have lost a loved one to the disease. Discussion will include where to find a detox or inpatient facility, and where people can turn to for help afterwards. Questions will also be taken from the audience.
“We would like to start a conversation to help break the stigma associated with drug use and addiction,” Madigan said in a statement. “This is a Swampscott problem and it is happening here and we are not immune to it.”
In Swampscott, there were 17 overdoses in 2015 and 25 overdoses in 2016. There were eight fatal overdoses during that time frame. In 2017, there have been three overdoses, according to police.
The Overdose Response Team was formed by the police department in 2016. Members include Madigan, Detective Rose Cheever, Officer Brendan Reen, School Superintendent Pamela Angelakis, Health Director Jeff Vaughan, Naomi Dreeben, chairwoman of the Board of Selectmen, Interim Town Administrator and Department of Public Works Director Gino Cresta, Fire Chief Kevin Breen, Deputy Fire Chief James Potts, and Mary Wheeler, of Healthy Streets Outreach Program, along with other officials and emergency personnel.
Following overdoses, Reen, Cheever and Wheeler go to residences to conduct “door knocks,” or follow-ups with the families afterward.
“It is not an easy phone call to make when a loved one needs help,” Madigan said in a statement. “We are trying to make that easier for people.”
Cheever said with the door knocks, sometimes people are more comfortable talking with Wheeler, rather than police officers. She said it’s hard for people to trust police because they may feel like officers are only there to charge them. She said the visits are about providing them with follow-up services.
“Once we go there, it does break the ice,” Cheever said. “We have been able to get people into treatment and stay off the drugs. Yes, there’s been some relapses and we’re back there again, but I think that’s part of the addiction.”
Cheever said the work of the response team and the point of showing the film, followed by a panel discussion, is to break to the stigma. She said people should know that they can reach out. She said people shouldn’t be embarrassed about addiction and it shouldn’t be a problem behind closed doors.
“We’re hoping that we’re able to get people to come out,” Cheever said of the event. “I know it’s a tough subject for some people and that’s why we’re trying to open the door for communication.”
https://newitemlive.wpengine.com/news/marblehead-talks-about-hope-and-recovery/
Gayla Cawley can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @GaylaCawley