Advocates call for overdose prevention centers in Massachusetts

BOSTON (WWLP) – Opioid addiction and overdose remain a significant cause of death in Massachusetts.

Massachusetts for Overdose Prevention Centers was joined by advocates Thursday at the State House in Boston to underscore the need for Overdose Prevention Centers to reduce opioid-related deaths in Massachusetts.

Although opioid overdose deaths have dropped about ten percent in 2023 as compared to 2022, on average, five people die of an overdose in Massachusetts every day. Parts of western Massachusetts have particularly high numbers of death caused by overdose. In Springfield alone, 102 died of an overdose in 2023.

Eliza Harper died on her 26th birthday in her home in South Deerfield. Her mother Cara Moser, now an advocate and harm reduction provider for Tapestry Health in Greenfield, says that overdose prevention centers will save young people like her daughter.

“I ask you that you please put aside your politics and get to doing the good work…to keep them alive, to keep hope alive, and pray to your God that they will survive their addiction,” said Moser.

State Representative Kate Donaghue, who advocated for the passage of a related house bill, lost her son Brian to an overdose in 2018 and says there is still work to be done with the stigma surrounding drug use.

“Substance abuse disorder, to my knowledge, is the only medical issue where we throw people out of treatment for showing symptoms of the disease they’re experiencing,” said Rep. Donaghue.

In Vermont, Minnesota, and Rhode Island… state legislature have passed laws that authorize and fund initial Overdose Prevention Centers. In Massachusetts, bills authorizing these centers remain in House and Senate Ways and Means Committees.

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