Regional grant to help Saugus battle drug use

SAUGUS – A regional grant from the Department of Public Health will help Saugus and Revere battle the ongoing opiate addiction problem that has been plaguing the area for years.The grant, which was awarded through the Massachusetts Opioid Abuse Prevention Collaborative (MOAPC), will bring $100,000 a year to the region for at least three years and possibly up to seven years for substance abuse and overdose prevention in Saugus, Revere, Winthrop and Chelsea, according to Town Manager Scott Crabtree.”It’s the first type of regional grant so this is a huge opportunity for the communities to try to look at addressing these substance abuse issues as well as preventing overdoses,” said Crabtree. “Obviously it’s a major issue and a problem all the communities are dealing with.”Saugus, Revere, Winthrop and Chelsea are part of the Winnisimmet Regional Opioid Collaborative, and since it’s a regional grant, Crabtree said there will be more guidance from other communities,”I have to hand it to Revere Cares and the host community in Revere, and the anti-drug coalitions from our community, as well as the other communities, because they really helped organize this,” said Crabtree. “This is going get us going in the right direction.”The grant takes effect July 1 and Crabtree said the communities will be working to collect data about drug use and set up a regional forum to allow community input.”We’ll look at the best practices and potential strategies among the communities ? then eventually we’ll look at putting together in the fall a finalized plan,” said Crabtree.The grant is the second one awarded to Saugus to fight drug addiction. Last month, the Saugus Anti-Drug Coalition won a $25,000 grant from State Farm that will go toward preventing drug use at the school level.Crabtree also said Youth and Recreation Director Greg Nickolas will play a key roll in the program. Nickolas could not be reached Thursday. Cate Blackford, the Manager of Healthy Community Initiatives for Revere, also could not be reached.Matt Tempesta can be reached at [email protected].