Stoughton to Receive Grant for Opioid Overdose-Reversing Drug

Stoughton will be one of 40 communities in the Commonwealth to receive a grant that will give police and fire departments the opioid overdose reversal drug, naloxone.

Governor Charlie Baker and the Massachusetts Department of Public Health announced Wednesday that they will be distributing over $700,000 in grants to communities heavily impacted by the opioid epidemic.

“This grant will help save more lives as our administration continues to pursue new and wide-ranging tools to combat the opioid epidemic, including the ability for medical personnel to intervene with those who have overdosed,” Governor Baker said in a release. “We look forward to continuing to work with the legislature to pass meaningful reforms, and are pleased to support our first responders’ access to immediate, life-saving resources.”

Other communities receiving grants ranging from $10,000 to $50,000 include Attleboro, Barnstable, Beverly, Boston, Brockton, Chelsea, Chicopee, Everett, Fall River, Falmouth, Fitchburg, Framingham, Haverhill, Holyoke, Lawrence, Leominster, Lowell, Lynn, Malden, Medford, New Bedford, North Attleboro, Peabody, Pittsfield, Plymouth, Quincy, Revere, Salem, Saugus, Somerville, Springfield, Taunton, Waltham, Wareham, Westfield, Weymouth, Winthrop, Woburn, and Worcester.

Municipalities that had an average annual rate of at least six unintentional/undetermined opioid overdose deaths per 100,000 and an average annual count of at least four unintentional/undetermined opioid overdose deaths were eligible for the grants.