Saturday October 29th from 10am-2pm

Brockton Council on Aging

10 Father Kenney Way

Bring back unwanted, unused, expired medications and the DEA will safely dispose of it as part of the National Effort to Reduce Prescription Drug Abuse

Sponsored by the DEA, Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office, Brockton Police Department, and the

 Brockton Mayor’s Opioid Overdose Prevention Coalition

http://www.enterprisenews.com/topstories/x827644001/Narcan-pilot-program-to-celebrate-1-000-overdose-reversals

Today the Commonwealth of Massachusetts will recognize the tremendous effort put forth by the eight nasal Narcan pilot sites, the 15 opioid overdose prevention coalitions, the family support groups, treatment centers, and countless numbers of individuals, whether they are non users, in recovery, or in active addiction who have used nasal Narcan in the event of an opioid overdose and saved a life.  The event is at the Massachusetts State House from 2-3pm today.  We know the real number of reversals is so much higher, so we will continue to encourage people to report their use of nasal Narcan.  Overdose prevention and nasal Narcan works and it SAVES LIVES!

August 31st is International Overdose Awareness Day.  Take the opportunity to learn more about overdose prevention management, enroll in nasal Narcan, and SAVE A LIFE!

“The impact of even a single overdose is devastating and far reaching…It is my personal belief that the greatest way we can pay our respects to the people we have lost, is to do everything in our power to reduce the rate of fatal opioid overdoses in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.”                                      Coalition Coordinator, Hillary Dubois

“I’ve been here before, for the Strand Theater fire memorial, remembering the 13 firefighters who lost their lives back in the early 1940’s.  I’ve been here for the Memorial Day observance, remembering military personnel who made ‘the ultimate sacrifice.’  I’ve also been here for New Day’s ‘Flowers for Victims’ remembering victims of sexual assault every spring.  And here we are tonight for the annual Overdose Vigil, remembering loved ones who die, not ‘in the line of duty,’ and not as the result of escalating violence or abuse- except as their addiction escalates and endangers their lives and may finally destroy them and far too often does… It’s what keeps us from being ‘crushed,’ from being ‘driven to despair’ and left there, from being abandoned or ‘destroyed’ by this terrible epidemic that takes the lives of those we’ve loved and continue to love.  Our presence here tonight bears witness to this gift, to what proves more powerful in the end than the most fearful of powers we’re up against in these fragile, vulnerable ‘earthen vessels.”                                                                                                                          Reverend W. McCoy