Democratic contender for Governor of Massachusetts Joe Avellone has certainly been the most vocal in calling for substance abuse treatment and reform. In a new campaign video, though, the former surgeon goes right to the source, talking to recovered addicts in order to continue spreading his message.
Two individuals, with a combined 15 years in recovery, convey testimonials in the two-minute clip, explaining the dangers of illicit opiates, like oxycontin and heroin.
“When we were taking oxycontin, I don’t think we knew really what we were getting ourselves into,” notes Shannon, a 35-year-old mother of two, who began using at the age of 12. Many people are subjected to the same nightmare as Shannon, thinking that their drug of choice does nothing more than levy a euphoric high.
But then, like Shannon did, they become addicted, in both the mental and physical sense, unable to function without their fix.
BostInno recently toured Roxbury’s Dimock Center with Avellone, where we spoke to a Percocet and prescription pill addict, who told us, similar to Shannon, “More people need to be educated on what they’re dealing with. By the time it’s too late, they’re already on the street.”
In New Bedford, Mass., an unfathomable 15 overdoses occurred in a timespan of just 24-hours, all thought to be related to heroin, due to the drug’s cheap price tag and easy access.
But rather than simply throw drug abusers behind bars, Avellone recognizes that judicial discipline like prison isn’t the sole answer. These people need medical and emotional treatment, which Avellone vows to implement should he be elected as Governor of Massachusetts.
Armed with a wealth of knowledge on the subject, a plan to create an aptly name Office of Recovery and a proposed regional initiative to tackle the issue with the help of our New England brethren, Avellone’s outlines for substance abuse treatment is unmatched by the rest of the gubernatorial field.
“This is not just a Massachusetts problem. By working together, we can reduce the smuggling of heroin into our region and address this issue head-on,” said Avellone in a statement.
But he understands that, in order to take care of substance abuse on a larger scale, he needs to begin by increasing funding to applicable facilities, subsequently leading to an increase in capacity. He also wants to nip overprescription in the bud by examining our drug monitoring program to keep doctors from allowing patients to keep surplus pills in easily accessible medicine cabinets.
Keeping drug offenders out of jail and placing them into recovery services will also ease the strain of our overburdened, overcrowded and underfunded prison system. This will allow for an expanding of drug courts to move people seamlessly from jail to treatment.
