Selectmen Renew Call to Fight Opioid Epidemic

In December, the Foxborough Board of Selectmen were asked to tackle the opioid epidemic in Foxborough, with a follow-up meeting occurring last April. But but not much has happened since.

Chairman Jim DeVellis brought the issue back to the table Tuesday night, urging the board and the town to take action.

“Foxborough is still in the state where it’s coming out but people don’t want to talk about it. It’s in Foxborough, it’s in our surrounding communities,” DeVellis said. “A lot of people may think they are not affected by it and if you’re not, you’re lucky. Others might say you are affected but you might not know.”

Kris Long and former selectman Mark Sullivan were present to push for a town solution. Sullivan criticized the town for the lack of action, noting that the only board member or department head at the meeting was Police Chief Ed O’Leary.

“We’re so far behind the ball on this. This was always my goal to bring this to the board and that didn’t happen,” Sullivan said. “Where are the schools? Don’t tell me it’s not in your schools, I know it is. I wish you as the executive board would start moving this forward.”

To help fight addiction in town, Sullivan recommended between $60,000-70,000 be appropriated at the Annual Town Meeting so the Board of Health can hire someone who specializes in dealing with addiction.

DeVellis agreed that it was time to address a problem that has increased over the years.

“In some respects it’s embarrassing that we don’t have a call number or someone dealing with it when so many other communities do,” he said.

Selectman Chris Mitchell agreed with DeVellis.

“It’s time to get everyone at the table and get some accountability instead of hearing ‘it’s not my job,’” he said.

Selectman John Gray suggested looking at the model adopted by Gloucester, where any addict that walks into the police station seeking help would not be arrested or face charges. Selectman Ginny Coppola said Plymouth has a similar model and advised the town to reach out to the communities.

DeVellis said the board would reach out and send a letter to every town departments to set up a future forum.