Oxford Appoints Committee To Combat Opioid Crisis

By Jack Kramer, Correspondent

OXFORD, CT – Just like other towns and cities in Connecticut, Oxford has been hard hit by the opioid and heroin deaths in the state. At the most recent Board of Selectmen meeting, the selectmen appointed an Opiate Crisis Steering Committee to “address the opioid crisis here in Oxford and the state of Connecticut and made recommendations to the Board of Selectmen.”

First Selectmen George Temple said the opioid crisis was “a real problem” in town, stating young people in their 20s were being lost to opioid addiction and overdoses.

He said in recent years seven young people had died from overdoses in town, stating “Oxford has one of the highest rates” of overdoses for a town its size in the state.

Temple said he does not know if government can do anything to stem the problem but he wanted to try.

The committee appointed includes law enforcement, health people, D.A.R.E. officers – and Temple.

Those appointed, besides Temple, were: Rev. John Donnelly, Laura Denslow, John Kerwin, Officer Thomas Gugliotti, Susan Schiavi, Jo-Ann Persson, Officer David Ives and Sgt. Dan Semosky.