New Bedford hosts fentanyl Town Hall

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (WLNE) — Fentanyl is responsible for 150 overdose deaths in the United States every day.

Whether by direct usage or because it’s mixed into another drug, it’s one of the leading causes of overdose death over the past few years.

And it’s something that can be deeply personal anywhere you go.

“It could be any of us, it could be you, it could be your neighbor,” Paula Young said. “We have experienced it, many other families have experienced it in many other states.

Young lost her son to fentanyl poisoning last year.

“There’s a huge community of grieving parents who are just like myself,” she said. “Some have lost two children, not just one, and if you don’t come together, then how are you going to make a difference?”

New Bedford Police Chief Paul Oliveira said the department is working every day to get better, but there is a long way to go.

“That’s why now it has to be a groundswell of cooperation from everyone,” he said. “Because it’s outside of law enforcement to fix this problem. It’s outside of one or two social service providers, it’s outside of just one or two of our legislators, our court system. Everyone needs to take some responsibility. But we all have to be responsible, and we all have to work together.”

There isn’t an easy answer to fix this problem, but one possibility is changing how to think about it.

“I think for far too long we have tried to arrest our way out of this problem,” Rep. Chris Hendricks said. “And now, I think a lot of people are coming around to the fact that this is a health crisis as opposed to something that we’re going to arrest our way out of.”

Hendricks told ABC 6 News crews about current bills on beacon hill that would change the way society addresses the crisis.

“The bill that I talked about, HB1391, will keep people out of prison and keep people in treatment and follow people along as those treatment plans develop if there is, unfortunately, a relapse, instead of throwing them back in prison,” he said.

Anyone dealing with addiction or knows someone who is can call 1-800-662-4357 for local resources.