Avellone: 'Government Can Do More to Address the Substance Abuse Problem'

Roxbury — It's unusual for a substance abuse facility to take a full-on approach to treatment, healthcare professionals at the Dimock Center told Democratic candidate for Governor Joe Avellone Wednesday. 

Avellone agreed and said that's why he wanted to come to the center. 

Avellone was on hand at the Dimock Center to discuss his proposed Office of Recovery and his vision for a holistic approach to drug addiction. As Governor, Avellone said he would create an Office of Recovery to serve under the Executive Office of Health and Human Services. Substance abuse cases are handled through the Massachusetts Bureau of Substance Abuse. However, Avellone said that would be consolidated with his prospective Office of Recovery. 

Touring the Roxbury facility, Avellone unveiled a plan that would involve six New England states to address prevention and treatment. Every governor in New England along with U.S. Congressmen and U.S. Senators would come together as a group to focus on a comprehensive and holistic approach to treatment, recovery and prevention. He added that interstate highways are becoming heroin pipelines and states need to work together to develop a regional strategy that stops the smuggling. 

By working cooperatively as a region, Avellone said the problem can reduce the smuggling of prescription drugs and heroin into New England and become a national leader in prevention and treatment. 

"As a doctor and someone who has spent his life in healthcare, we need to take an aggressive approach to this problem. We need to bring our region together to truly address this problem. We also need to aggressively monitor prescriptions and make sure that doctors are not over prescribing." 

He added, "We need to share best practices among states for dealing with substance abuse. We must open the lines of communication among governors and make sure that we are discussing what is working and what is not. We also need to work together in reciprocal sharing our treatment facilities as a way to pool capacity to more efficiently handle varying levels of demand."  

One key initiative will be to work with the FDA and the pharmaceutical industry to push for the development of safer, less addictive, pain medicines that cannot be so easily abused.  

Avellone said he would also expand the number of drug courts. Avellone said that those who are sent to drug courts must undergo treatment, therapy and random drug testing and to have periodic hearings before a judge to evaluate progress. He also said it is much more effective and less expensive to send someone to treatment under the jurisdiction of a drug court than to send them to prison at a cost of $46,000 per year.

To date, more than 185 lives have been lost since November. That figure does not include Boston, Springfield or Worchester. States including Maine, Rhode Island and Connecticut have also been adversely impacted.

"We are just seeing the tip of a very large iceberg and I've been seeing all over the state" Avellone said. "If we don't address this problem, we'll lose more lives and more families will be destroyed."