Governor Charlie Baker and Lt. Governor Karyn Polito were at the Falmouth Arts Center in Falmouth Thursday morning. They were joined by mental health and substance use specialists from non-profit Gosnold as well first responders from across Cape Cod and the Islands and other stakeholders in the battle against opioid abuse and addiction.
Baker told the gathering that Massachusetts has made in-roads into the opioid crisis with the Commonwealth one of the few states in the country where opioid-related overdose deaths declined from the year before. The Governor says that’s because Massachusetts switched from a reactive to a pro-active approach to the crisis.
“I think that is in part because we were early into this, and we’ve been aggressive about promoting collaborative approach in dealing with it,” said Baker.
The Governor, Lt. Governor, and several stakeholders all agreed it’s a long road ahead to further eradicate opioid-related deaths and that the message must begin earlier when students are in grade school and involve parents.