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John Rogers of Berkshire Health Systems moderated a panel discussion with Sheriff Thomas Bowler, Police Chief Michael Wynn, Mayors Linda Tyer and Richard Alcombright, U.S. Rep. Richard Neal, film producer Lisa King, RSYP director Amanda Timpane, Dr. Alex Sabo of BMC and Christine MacBeth of the Brien Center.

Panel Discussion, Film Screening Sheds Light On Heroin Epidemic

By Andy McKeeveriBerkshires Staff
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Congressman Richard Neal headed the effort to bring the screening to BCC.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Berkshire County has seen 105 people so far this year taken to the hospital after overdosing.
 
That's on pace for more than 300 in a year.
 
Last year, there were 158, a sharp increase from the average of 40 to 60 from 2011 through 2013. There were 36 deaths in 2015 from overdoses and so far in Pittsfield alone there have been nine. A total of 36 out of 800 babies born this year have been exposed to opioids while in utero.
 
Those statistics come from John Rogers, vice president and general counsel for Berkshire Health Systems. He detailed those numbers after a screening of the documentary "Heroin: Cape Cod, USA" on Tuesday night at Berkshire Community College. The HBO film followed a number of young heroin addicts on Cape Cod, giving a face and personality to those struggling with addiction. Many of them have since died.
 
"We want to 'other.' We want to say this isn't happening in my family, this isn't happening in my neighborhood or this isn't happening in my community because it is so damn scary," the film's producer Lisa King said. "When you talk to the parents they tell you what it is like to lose a child and that sense of helplessness and that loss and it seems so needless ... I lose count of how many people I've said 'I'm so sorry for your loss.'"
 
"One of the purposes of the film is to get you out of the space of 'othering' and get you into the space of relating and saying this could be my kid, my friend's kid, my child's friend, etc. This is a community problem for all of us. This is not just a Cape Cod problem, it is not just a New England problem."
 
The film is being shown all over the globe and screenings and conversations are being held across the nation because while the film is set in Massachusetts, every town across the country is dealing with the heroin epidemic. Overdose deaths from opioids have quadrupled since 2001 and continues to rise. 
 
"One of the reasons this has gained such a broad constituency across America, the issue of addiction, is because every one of us here knows a family member, knows of somebody else's family member who is battling addiction," U.S. Rep. Richard Neal said. "We could just change the name at the end to Heroin, Berkshire County."
 
Locally, District Attorney David Capeless said there have been 86 suspected overdose deaths in Berkshire County in the last 2 1/2 years and 2/3 of those were from heroin. Sheriff Thomas Bowler says 90 percent of the inmates at the Berkshire County House of Correction have substance abuse problems. And Brien Center Executive Director Christine MacBeth says more people now enter treatment programs for opioid addiction than alcohol.
 
"For the person who is hijacked by this substance, every day for them is a day of lost potential," Mayor Linda Tyer said. 
 
"Our mental health and health-care community work furiously to save lives and they see this every day. It is not easy for them to witness or experience the most powerful crisis in a person's life. Yet, resignation to this devastating condition is not an option for us. There are many organizations in Pittsfield and the Berkshires that are dedicated. They dedicate their time, energy, and resources to ending this life altering and devastating cycle."
 
Tyer and Neal teamed up to put on the screening of the film at Berkshire County College. The mayor said she hoped it would "broaden the network and community outreach in ways that improve outcomes for those who struggle with addiction."
 
Following the showing a panel discussion was held with Bowler, Police Chief Michael Wynn, North Adams Mayor Richard Alcombright, Neal, King, Railroad Street Youth Project Executive Director Amanda Timpane, MacBeth and Dr. Alex Sabo from Berkshire Medical Center, each providing their own insight on the issue and explaining what they have to offer to combat it.
 
"We also need to rid our communities of the source of that addiction on the streets and unfortunately in our doctor's office," Capeless said, adding that it isn't just the individuals dealing with addiction who suffer but also family and friends.
 
Capeless says much of it derives from doctors overprescribing opioid pain medications. That has led to patients of all ages and demographics falling into addiction. Heroin becomes a more inexpensive way to feed the addiction. Many of those featured in the film started exactly that way — first with a prescription and then falling deeper into abuse.
 
One character was a small-time heroin dealer, dealing just enough to pay for his habit. That's the type of dealer Wynn said is operating in Pittsfield — a type that is much more difficult to infiltrate and arrest. The focus of the Police Department is to find the users and then hope to find out who the dealer is to stop the distribution. 
 
"It is not the same type of drug enforcement we did when we did cocaine or crack enforcement. It is not organizational based," Wynn said. 
 
Police may have the least effective role because mostly the officers are dealing with the "end user," he said. So far this year, there have been 64 recorded overdose responses by the Police Department with seven deaths.
 
"We're really at the front end of the problem. We are only one potential aspect in trying to deal with it," Wynn said. 
 
Neal was joined by others is rejecting the "war on drugs" and focusing on treatment efforts. Neal said it is clear that "punishment is not working very well." 
 
"If people really want solutions, they can't turn their backs on anything," Alcombright said, saying there needs to be a number of resources to help treat those struggling with addiction. "The war on drugs, in my opinion, has never truly worked." 
 
In North Adams, Alcombright has worked with the Northern Berkshire Community Coalition's heroin and prescription drug work group to encourage more resources. He sat on a Massachusetts Municipal Association's opioid abuse task force to outline what communities need to go after the problem. Simply put, the community needs to use every resource it has to help to treat addiction — "you can't look the other way," Alcombright said.
 
Those resources are still too few. MacBeth outlined a number of options the Brien Center offers, from running 24 beds at Keenan House, where patients can stay for up to six months, to a supportive living program with 20 people being placed in subsidized housing for recovery up to a year, to a Safe Harbor Program to connect women with children to resources, to treatments and outpatient services.
 
But they are overwhelmed. MacBeth said there is a waiting list for Keenan House.
 
"I truly believe that treatment works, it is effective, and people can and do recover," she said.
 
The organization recently was approved to open another house to increase the number who can be treated in sober housing but the funds haven't been approved. MacBeth said at least, if not more, recovery houses need to be opened.
 
At Berkshire Medical Center, a new Clinical Stabilization Services Center opened just two weeks ago and is already full. The center is a step down from the more intensive McGee Unit, which is a detoxification program for just a few days. In the new unit cover, a patient will get help for up to 30 days in coping with addiction and restoring stability in their lives.
 
At the Berkshire County House of Correction, Bowler said a number of programs have been rolled out to provide those re-entering society more stabilization in their lives. But, they can only do so much. He said if there were as many case managers outside the facility as they have inside, the county could make an even bigger dent in the problem. 
 
"This is not a short-term fix, it is a long-term fix. And unfortunately, it is an expensive fix," Bowler said.
 
Inside the House of Correction, there is a partnership that brings Brien Center workers into help with re-entry and a smooth transition into the center's outpatient programs. There is a residential substance abuse treatment. There is a program for those on bail and awaiting trial. There is a program for Vivitrol (naltrexone), which blocks the sensors in an addict's brain from accepting drugs and alcohol.
 
"Our job is to reintegrate these people into the community as better people than when they came in," Bowler said. "We have to really take a look at what we are going to do as far as weighing the cost to human life."
 
Tyer said the city has equipped firefighters with the overdose reversal drug Narcan and has started to look into a needle exchange program.
 
All of it stems from one concept, which Timpane described best as "We have to know, really know, that [recovery] is possible. We have to change the narrative locally and nationally from the war on drugs to how can we heal."
 
Timpane knows people can recover because she's seen it. When she was just 18 one of her childhood friends overdosed. But, that friend is now living a happy life after years of recovery attempts. The Railroad Street Youth Project was formed to help grow prevention programs.
 
"We want to prevent people from ever becoming addicted and dying from addiction," she said. "We have restarted a community conversation around preventing substance abuse among youth."
 
The organization runs Learn to Cope programs, and focuses on inspiring and empowering the community to come together to prevent it. The group is also launching a new pilot program to help doctors be more clear about the addictiveness and change the way prescriptions are being issues — a similar effort is being introduced at Berkshire Medical Center. And the Railroad Street Youth Project is advocating for fire responders to have Narcan.
 
But there is still a lack of resources. Timpane said one individual struggling with addiction doesn't have a driver's license to get to the treatment programs in Pittsfield. The lack of resources in South County is making it difficult for those residents to have access.
 
Despite the challenges and the severity of the issue, the entire panel felt that the problem can be solved. Neal said Congress was able to pass a Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act aimed to bring additional resources to combat the epidemic.
 
"What Congress has done with the president is established authorization. Authorization simply puts in place the infrastructure of what will be the spending priority once the appropriation is met. We're still trying to go through the details of the legislation in how the money will be parceled out but we believe it will be parceled out. We believe it will be on a competitive basis and I believe Berkshire County is well positioned, based upon the experiences I've had in the last couple of months in talking to people and you've already got out in front of it," Neal said.
 
That panel's focus and optimism is what King hoped for when the documentary was released. She said it was difficult to be filming those in the movie shooting heroin and struggling. And she has received "flack" from those who live on the Cape for making it public. But, she feels it is worth it if it leads to focused efforts to combat the issue.
 
"I stand by the film to say I am proud we've taken a leadership role in the state many times on the toughest social issues," King said. "It's OK to stand up and be counted and say yes, we have this problem here at home."

Tags: community forum,   drug abuse,   drug prevention,   heroin,   Opioid abuse,   

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MassDOT Project Will Affect Traffic Near BMC

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass. — Prepare for traffic impacts around Berkshire Medical Center through May for a state Department of Transportation project to improve situations and intersections on North Street and First Street.

Because of this, traffic will be reduced to one lane of travel on First Street (U.S. Route 7) and North Street between Burbank Street and Abbott Street from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday through at least May 6.

BMC and Medical Arts Complex parking areas remain open and detours may be in place at certain times. The city will provide additional updates on changes to traffic patterns in the area as construction progresses.

The project has been a few years in the making, with a public hearing dating back to 2021. It aims to increase safety for all modes of transportation and improve intersection operation.

It consists of intersection widening and signalization improvements at First and Tyler streets, the conversion of North Street between Tyler and Stoddard Avenue to serve one-way southbound traffic only, intersection improvements at Charles Street and North Street, intersection improvements at Springside Avenue and North Street, and the construction of a roundabout at the intersection of First Street, North Street, Stoddard Avenue, and the Berkshire Medical Center entrance.

Work also includes the construction of 5-foot bike lanes and 5-foot sidewalks with ADA-compliant curb ramps.  

Last year, the City Council approved multiple orders for the state project: five orders of takings for intersection and signal improvements at First Street and North Street. 

The total amount identified for permanent and temporary takings is $397,200, with $200,000 allocated by the council and the additional monies coming from carryover Chapter 90 funding. The state Transportation Improvement Plan is paying for the project and the city is responsible for 20 percent of the design cost and rights-of-way takings.

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