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Help, Not Handcuffs: A New Way To Respond To The Opioid Crisis In Massachusetts

Help, Not Handcuffs: A New Way To Respond To The Opioid Crisis In Massachusetts

Police officer John Cacela of Ware, Massachusetts, at left, with Emily Ligawiec at a pottery class where they touch base on her recovery from a drug overdose.
Credit Karen Brown / NEPR
/
NEPR
Police officer John Cacela of Ware, Massachusetts, at left, with Emily Ligawiec at a pottery class where they touch base on her recovery from a drug overdose.
Karen Brown takes a look at the opioid crisis in the region.

As opioid abuse continues unabated, drug users often stay under the radar until it’s too late. 

Health leaders are developing ways not just to get them help, but to keep them alive until they’re ready to get sober.

In one approach gaining traction around Massachusetts, police officers are trained to reach out to drug users after a crisis — from an overdose to a drug-related crime — and offer them help. That could mean a warm bed for the night or a ride to detox.

But more often than not, the drug user is not ready to accept that help.

So officers are learning patience, persistence, and the ups and down of addiction, while health and policy leaders grapple with how to measure success.

NEPM's Karen Brown takes a look at how police officers and drug users are adapting to "post-overdose outreach," how the work of recovery coaches fits into the process, and how researchers and policy makers are judging its effectiveness. 

Part one: "Police In Western Mass. Keep Knocking On Drug Users' Doors Until They're Ready For Help"

Part two: "Recovery Coaches Offer Nonjudgmental Support To Fill Addiction Treatment Gaps"

Part three: "As People Die From Overdoses, Health Leaders And Police Struggle To Measure Success"

Part four: "As Post-Overdose Outreach Expands In Western Mass., Springfield's Role Unclear"

Extra story: "A Former Drug User Recalls 'The Day I Got Sober'"