DA urges drug treatment on demand

LYNN – It’s a warning he’s been giving since taking office in 2003. But Essex District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett said Wednesday that the heroin epidemic will not slow down until treatment services are available on demand.”I don’t like to come and talk about how we always need more resources … but we need more resources to deal with this,” Blodgett said Wednesday in an editorial board meeting at The Item. “I’m a firm believer that unless or until, and I’ve said this to the legislators in the area, unless or until we have treatment on demand, we are going to continue on this cycle.”Lynn annually leads Essex County in heroin overdoses, with each year setting new records for both fatal and nonfatal overdoses.Lynn Police recorded 71 overdoses in 2010, the last year that the number of annual heroin overdoses decreased, according to department statistics. Since that time, Lynn Police recorded 89 overdoses in 2011; 118 overdoses in 2012; and 189 and 280 overdoses in 2013 and 2014, respectively. The number of fatal heroin overdoses has generally followed this trend – with the city recording 9, 24, 19, and 35 fatal overdoses, respectively, from 2011 to 2014. Last week, there were six overdoses in 48 hours, three which were fatal and occurred in six hours.As the county’s top law-enforcement official, Blodgett advocates treating drug offenses according to a “two-pronged approach”: treatment for defendants involved in drug possession; and incarceration with stiff, state-set penalties for defendants convicted of drug distribution and trafficking. Simultaneously, the office stresses early education and intervention to prevent drug use.In regards to treatment for persons involved in drug possession, Blodgett emphasized the Lynn Drug Court, an intensely supervised, court-managed treatment and subsequent probation for addicts who have been charged with a crime and admit they cannot handle their addiction without court supervision.Blodgett also emphasized the office’s pre-complaint drug diversion program. He said the target population for this program is an individual who has never been through the court system but has been arrested for an offense because of, but not necessarily involving, drugs. Blodgett gave an example of a single mom who has been introduced to drugs by a partner and steals or embezzles money to buy drugs. Upon successfully completing treatment and restitution, the offender will have all charges dropped prior to arraignment, meaning that he or she has no criminal record, Blodgett explained.In regards to education and prevention, he praised Lynn Public Schools Superintendent Dr. Catherine C. Latham (his seventh-grade geometry teacher) as a tremendous ally in helping him deliver his anti-drug message to local students.”On a scale of 1 to 10, I’d say it’s a 12,” Blodgett said of his relationship with Latham and Lynn Public Schools, while also highlighting the productive working relationship he and his office have with the Lynn Police Department and Chief Kevin Coppinger.But the overdoses continue. And Blodgett said that without treatment readily available, that’s not a surprise. He noted that many overdose deaths involve former users who have “slipped” and overdose because their tolerance to the drug has decreased. He recalled speaking with parole officers whose clients report they are slipping but cannot find a bed in treatment. Other users do not have the financial resources or insurance that will cover drug treatment, and there are only a certain number of subsidized beds.”If we had treatment on demand, I think it would be a huge step to keep them from slipping,” Blodgett said.