Overdose Task Force Convenes for First Meeting

A new state task force assigned the incredibly challenging job of tackling the state’s addiction crisis had its first meeting Wednesday.

Drug overdoses are the leading cause of accidental death in Rhode Island and The Overdose Prevention and Intervention Task Force is an initiative launched by Governor Gina Raimondo.

Members of the task force at the meeting laid out their objectives, which include a plan to deliver a clear action plan by November.

According to a news release, the group will offer clear goals, objectives and metrics to combat the state’s addiction and overdose crisis, which has devastated thousands of Rhode Island families across all ethnic and economic backgrounds.

“We recognize there is no simple solution to addiction and overdose, and we certainly have our work cut out for us,” said one of the task force’s chairpersons, Maria Montanaro. “However, we know that the committed group of stakeholders on this task force are up to the challenge of confronting this issue in a focused, actionable way. We are already hard at work to move our state to a stronger, healthier place.”

The plan is intended to save lives, said co-chair Nicole Alexander Scott, also the director of the Rhode Island Department of Health. It will be data-driven, collaborative “at every turn” and there will be a focus on “the things that we know will work to reduce addiction and overdose in Rhode Island.

Along with Scott and Montanaro, who is director of the state Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals, the task force includes local public health and addiction experts Josiah D. Rich and Traci C. Green, who are part of the team of public health experts at Brown University, the Miriam Hospital and Johns Hopkins University. Their job is to provide technical assistance in developing the action plan.

CVS Health and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Rhode Island are supporting the effort with a $70,000 donation.

In 2014, 239 people in Rhode Island died from drug overdoses and 17,000 people died nationwide, driven by the widespread availability of prescription opioids and the incredible power of addiction.

The price paid by society as a result of the addiction crisis comes in both lives and dollars. Every police and fire department in Rhode Island responds to overdose calls on a routine basis. Many departments now carry the lifesaving drug, Narcan, which has helped save a number of lives since they were distributed to officers and rescue personnel beginning last year.

Addicts often resort to committing crimes to get money to buy drugs, which consumes police resources and the subsequent legal costs as addicts become criminals.

“The Governor has put together some of the most committed, knowledgeable people in the state to work together on the task force,” Green said. “We are looking forward to working with them to develop a focused strategic plan which we are hopeful will make a meaningful difference in combating this crisis.”