A grim reminder of the opioid epidemic was left at a splash pad in Dorchester for all to see.
A suspected 61-year-old overdose sufferer was discovered there at Pope John Paul II Park at 7:30 a.m. on Sunday. A moped was parked close by and two “empty plastic baggies” have been on the bottom close to the unidentified Quincy man, State Police reported.
It’s formally an “unattended death.” Nothing suspicious, police added, however nothing international both. The Medical Examiner’s Office has the case now.
This comes as OD deaths have hit a brand new excessive within the Bay State with the town additionally in dire form.
In Boston, 352 folks died from opioid overdoses final yr, an almost 7% enhance from 2021 (330 complete deaths). From 2019 to 2022, Boston skilled a 36% enhance in opioid-related deaths, greater than twice the statewide fee of enhance (16%) over the identical time interval.
Each demise, stated state Sen. Nick Collins, is a stark reminder that the established order isn’t reducing it.
“The troubling trend of overdose deaths along with the prevalence of drug paraphernalia in our public spaces must be thwarted,” Collins stated Sunday. “We need more robust intervention strategy including shutting down the overwhelming supply of drugs on our streets.”
He’s calling for extra civil commitments to therapy facilities to assist addicts keep alive. If not, he added, the town will maintain dropping this “unmitigated battle of attrition.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”