Lynn overdose vigil Aug. 7

LYNN-Substance abuse workers and families mourning lost loved ones will underscore the human toll taken by heroin use with an overdose vigil scheduled for Aug. 7 at 7:30 p.m. on Lynn Common near the public library.Seven deaths so far from heroin overdoses this year is the highest number recorded by Lynn police since 2005 when 11 people died. Vigil sponsor CAB Health and Recovery Services, Inc. will remember lives lost so far this year at the vigil and call for more public money to fund drug treatment and anti-substance abuse education programs.”We encourage people to join us in trying to discard the stigma around fatal overdose and remember that we have truly lost friends, family, wives, husbands and community,” CAB stated in announcing the vigil.Medical personnel were able to save 59 drug users’ lives this year by, in nearly all cases, using the overdose-reversing drug Narcan to revive them.Two thirds of the 66 people who overdosed on heroin locally live in Lynn. Four were from Saugus with the others from surrounding communities as far away as Haverhill and Newton.The average price of the heroin responsible for each overdose was $20 to $40.CAB workers try to counsel drug users and help their families in part by providing overdose prevention education.Last April saw the highest number of heroin overdoses of any month locally since 2003. The month’s two deadliest days were April 9, when a 29-year-old woman died despite efforts of a family member to revive her, and April 10, when a 28-year-old man died of an overdose on the commuter rail platform in Central Square.A 44-year-old woman also overdosed and died in her basement on April 10 and a 39-year-old man was found dead from an overdose in his home five days later.Police arrested Ramses Danger, 32, on April 16 and charged him with heroin distribution. Prosecutors claimed a batch of the drug sold by Danger was responsible for the overdose deaths. Danger, who was initially arraigned in Lynn District Court in April, pleaded innocent in Superior Court Thursday to heroin distribution charges.For more information on the vigil, call 781-592-0243 or send an email to [email protected]