CARE Coalition teams up with Hampden D.A. in fight against drugs

Feb. 1, 2018 | Jordan Houston
jordan@thereminder.com

Reminder Publications submitted photos.

WEST SPRINGFIELD – The West Springfield CARE Coalition teamed up with the office of Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulling to take a stance against drugs during National Drug and Alcohol Facts Week.  

On Jan. 25, the organization and Gulling hosted a free, hour-long event at the auditorium of West Springfield High School to show a short documentary about the dangers of experimenting with drugs and risks associated with taking prescription medications, called “Just Once.” The 30-minute documentary also provided resources for anyone struggling with addiction.

Around 50 to 60 parents, guardians and school-aged children attended the event to watch the documentary and listen to residents from the Western Massachusetts Recovery and Wellness Center – a community-based residential treatment facility in Springfield, designed for the custody, care and treatment of people with substance-abuse issues – offer their own experiences with drug-abuse and recovery. Questions were then open to the audience.

“It’s quite compelling to realize that addiction knows no boundaries, and can effect anyone regardless of race, ethnicity or income level – or whether it was a prescription given for an injury,” said West Springfield Superintendent of Schools and CARE Steering Committee Co-Chair Michael J. Richard. “If you go down that road, there’s a chance that the consequences are significant and that the individual and can lead down a path of destruction and poor decision making.”

The CARE Coalition is made up of a group of volunteers from multiple sectors, including municipal, school, youth, law enforcement, business, civic, health care, faith, youth, social service agencies, local government, media and parents. Some of the representatives include, Kristen Stauffer from the Behavioral Health Network, Police Chief Ron Capricornia, Outreach Coordinator for the Mayor’s Office Carly Camposs and Dan D’Alema from the West Springfield Boys and & Girls Club.

The “Just Once” event was part of the Coalition’s larger mission to provide education, intervention and prevention efforts to address and reduce underage alcohol and substance abuse. While promoting safe, healthy lifestyle choices, the Coalition strives to develop and implement educational initiatives and strategies to reduce teen alcohol and substance abuse. The group also encourages fostering a culture of accountability and responsibility.

Since its inception in 2013, the Coalition’s efforts are focused on creating change, launching a carefully crafted media campaign, offering community forums on underage alcohol and substance abuse and collecting data from youth and parents to increase effectiveness, said Richard.

“With our primary focus being prevention for youth, we’ve focused on programming that is rooted in best practice and without the shock-value,” said the superintendent. “So, it’s about education and not fear, and our programming has been met with varying degrees of success in the last five years, but we continue to bring programming and evening activities to students at schools, as well as to the committees.

Massachusetts is currently experiencing an epidemic of opioid-related overdose and death – opioid generally refers to a family of substances that include natural opiates, such as Morphine and Codeine, as well as synthetic and semi-synthetic opioids like Heroin, Oxyopidae and Festally.

According to Mass.gov, these overdoses are driven by underlying chronic disease of opioid addictions or opioid use disorders. Opioid-related deaths in the state were more than four times higher in 2015 than in 2000. The opioid-related death rate in MA has surpassed the national average, with an especially sharp rise in the last two years.

In a more recent study done by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, data shows that 67 of the 386 deaths reported for 15 to 24-year-olds between Jan. 2017 to Sept. 2017 were opioid-related. In ages 25 to 34, 281 of the 955 deaths for those months were confirmed to be opioid-related. The study also showed that men were more likely to die from opioid-related deaths than women.

Although the Coalition relies solely on volunteers, Richard said funding has been a challenge for the group. He said the Coalition hopes to secure a drug-free community grant, which is a federal grant that would allow the organization to collect $120,000 a year for four years to help with prevention and hiring full-time staff.

“This crisis is having a significant impact on Western Massachusetts, and any opportunity we have to save a student or a community member from the grasps of addiction is huge,” he said. “Because we know there are significant costs, both in human costs and economic costs, behind the addictions. From my end, as an educator, keeping kids safe is always my number one priority.”

For anyone looking to get involved with the Coalition, Richard said to contact his office at 263-3300.

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