If you passed by the State House late yesterday morning, you may have noticed a gathering of public health advocates. Yesterday's rally at the State House was a big success. Dozens of people from across the state came to show their support for S.2281, a legislative proposal aimed at tackling the growing opiate epidemic in Massachusetts. The rally took place in advance of the Congressional Administrative Law Subcommittee's hearing to review the Oxycontin and Heroin Commission's recently released recommendation to address substance abuse issues nationwide.
During the rally, I had the privilege of introducing State Sen. Steve Tolman, (D-Brighton), who sponsored the bill and chaired the Oxycontin and Heroin Commission. Sen. Tolman has aggressively pursued the development of local and state policies to increase awareness of the crisis and the need for more addiction treatment services.
The bill is supported by a report released last November by the Oxycontin and Heroin Commission. While support for addiction treatment programs has increased, the close to 3,300 opiate-realted deaths (from 2002-2007) is proof that we have not sufficiently met the needs for this growing problem. Today's event showed that, with the support of the community and legislative leadership, we can tackle this problem.
On the Issues, People & Organizations in Behavioral Health in the Commonwealth
Addiction treatment services are indeed very important to people who are into the verge of breaking down their lives because of addiction regardless of its many forms. It is truly imperative for these people to seek prompt treatment.
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