Drug Overdoses Rise In Natick, New Health Outreach Planned

NATICK, MA — Natick is on pace to have the most drug overdoses in any year since town police started keeping track in 2014, but local health officials are expanding efforts to try to slow down incidents.

There have been 38 overdoses in Natick so far in 2019 — including three fatal overdoses — compared to 33 in all of 2018, according to Natick police Lt. Cara Rossi. More than half of the 2019 overdose victims were from Natick, and many of the incidents occurred along the Route 9 corridor. Most of the victims are between the ages of 21 and 40, but two victims in Natick have been under 18. The overdoses were split 37 percent women, 63 percent men.

There's no definitive explanation for the increase, Rossi said, although highly potent synthetic opioids like fentanyl might be to blame.

A Centers for Disease Control report released last week revealed that fentanyl is the No. 1 cause of deadly overdoses in Massachusetts and all other states east of the Mississippi River. Close to 90 percent of deadly overdoses in Massachusetts at the beginning of 2019 involved fentanyl, according to the state Department of Public Health.

The increase in overdoses will be the subject of a Board of Health meeting of the Natick 180 action team on Tuesday. Katie Sugarman, who oversees Natick 180, said that the health board will hear from regional social service agencies to see if overdoses have increased in other MetroWest communities.

To combat the rise in overdoses, Sugarman said the public should take advantage of the town's free Narcan program. Narcan, also called naloxone, can reverse an opioid overdose.

All Natick police officers carry Narcan. Some have even asked for extra doses to carry while off-duty, Rossi said. Natick started making Narcan available for free in February 2018 — right after the town saw the most overdose deaths in a single year with four in 2017. There were three deaths in 2018.

The town has also expanded the Narcan program to hotels and motels along Route 9, training employees how to administer it. The health department sends a reminder to the hotels every year that training is available for free, Sugarman said.

READ: 2 Worcester Nursing Homes See Repeat Drug Overdoses

Natick has also forged a partnership with the Framingham-based Justice Resource Institute. JRI harm-reduction specialists will go out into the community to meet with people who have substance-use disorder to match them with services — be it drug treatment, health care, or just transportation. The JRI workers will enhance outreach already being conducted by Natick police and the town's health clinician.

Much of the time, overdoses in Natick happen behind closed doors, either in a private home or a motel room, Sugarman said. But just because overdoses are not as visible doesn't mean they aren't happening.

"There are few communities in Massachusetts that have not been directly touched by this crisis," Sugarman said.

Natick 180 will discuss the 2019 overdoses in a meeting at the Community Senior Center, 117 East Central St., at 1 p.m. on Oct. 29.

>>>How to get Narcan/naloxone in Natick: The Natick Health Department will give Narcan (known generically as naloxone) free to anyone who wants it. Call the health department at 508-647-6460 to set up an appointment. You will be trained on how to use Narcan, but the service is anonymous.