Saugus to launch second drug overdose summit

SAUGUS – After the success of last month?s Opiate Overdose Summit at Kowloon, Saugus Youth and Recreation Director Greg Nickolas is teaming up with several local anti-drug groups for another summit on March 14.?We had planned from the beginning to do two,” said Nickolas. “The first one we wanted to pull the leaders together from different communities to look at sharing resources. This next one is more geared toward the general public ? I think the last summit had a positive impact in terms of pulling the community out of the denial factor.”Nickolas said there will also be a “youth component” to next week?s summit.?We want to engage the youth and get them involved because they?re a source of information that we need ?” he said. “You want to cut the snake?s head off and start with prevention.”The free event starts at 5 p.m. at Kowloon with appetizers followed by a three-hour program that includes personal stories of addiction, lessons in how to recognize and respond to an overdose, and how to administer Narcan, an overdose reversal drug.?Accessing these services isn?t an easy task,” said Nickolas. “That?s what we want to talk about: how do people in the midst of addiction access them and how can we as communities make it more accessible?Overdose deaths have jumped from 94 annually in 1990 to more than 600 as of 2009, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health?s Bureau of Substance Abuse Services. A chart from the DPH on opioid-related deaths and hospital visits for surrounding communities has Saugus at a rate of 31.7 per year from 2008 to 2010. Lynn had a rate of 96.3 per year while Revere had 66.7 and Peabody had 41.3.Board of Health Chairman Joseph Vinard called the numbers for Saugus “startling” and said it?s “obvious” Saugus has a big problem.?Where we fall in our community it?s really scary when you see how close we are to some of the bigger cities that have a lot of problems,” said Vinard during Monday?s Board of Health meeting. “It should be kept on the front burner and we should move forward. It?s scary. As a percentage of people who live in this community, to have that many reported overdoses or poisonings is very, very scary.”Nickolas said Saugus is also applying for a $100,000, three-year grant from the DPH for a regional drug partnership with Revere, Winthrop and Chelsea.?There?s always been that reluctance to get on board and with this and with the regionalization it helps,” said Nickolas. “It?s a point of contact for us to be plugging in with others who have been battling this.”Town Manager Scott Crabtree said one of his goals as manager is to combine resources with other towns, much like he did with Veterans Services.?Or in this case trying to deal with a national drug problem affecting all our communities,” he said.Crabtree said the regionalization grant will act as a support system, with Revere serving as a “mentor” for the other communities.?I think identifying the problem and now having a conversation and executing a plan and strategy to intervene is important,” said Crabtree. “Certainly having all these other communities involved is a priority and supporting it is paramount.”Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].