Norfolk County Recognized for Overdose Prevention

Officials in communities around Norfolk County were highlighted last week at the Prescription Drug Abuse Summit in Atlanta, for coming up with successful opiate overdose strategies in recent months.

At the summit, the strategies were highlighted as potential “national models” to address the near epidemic increase of heroin and other overdoses across the United States.

At the conference, Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrissey shared training and pilot program initiatives from officials in Quincy, Stoughton, as well as other communities.

Properly trained staffers in the field were using naloxone, commonly referred to by the trade name Narcan, he noted. While not a panacea, it can temporarily halt the life-threatening effects of opiate overdose.

The training that resulted from the partnership included police departments, fire departments, or both from every community in Norfolk County that did not already have a program in place, Morrissey said. He added that money forfeited by drug dealers was used to purchase 900 doses of naloxone that were provided to the 28 communities in the district.

“Today, right now, there are things that local and regional authorities can do to save lives in the midst of this overdose epidemic, Morrissey said. “I hope that, to the best of our ability, we were able to share some of those strategies with others from across the country.”

Caption: Norfolk County was well represented at the National Rx Drug Abuse Summit in Atlanta last week. From left are Stoughton Police Chief Paul Shastany, opiate overdose prevention coordinator for the Norfolk DA’s Office Ryan Walker, District Attorney Michael W. Morrissey, Jennifer Rowe, head of the DA’s crime prevention unit, Stoughton Substance Abuse Prevention Coordinator Stephanie Patton, Sgt. Donna McNamara, Sgt. Brian Holmes, Fire Chief Mark Dolloff, Mike Jackman, from the office of U.S. Rep. William R. Keating and Fire Lt. Jay McNamara. Courtesy photo