Boston, Massachusetts Department of Health Tally’s Drug Overdoses

The Massachusetts’ Department of Public Health just revised the official tally of drug overdose deaths from 2014 (it will likely be revised yet again) and the results reveal that four people a day are dying in the Commonwealth State.  Vermont now investigates four drug-related fatalities a week. Imagine the public response if ebola or tainted meat or rat poison were killing FOUR people a day in Massachusetts. Imagine the panic if a viral pandemic had taken the lives of nearly 2,500 throughout New England in a single year.

Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker has made it his mission to address the opioid epidemic; but Governor Baker has also talked about “better analysis of where and why people succumb to the disease.” Why people succumb?  Such a question is based on a flawed premise and we should all resist the urge to agree with and to legitimize that premise. People do not become addicted to opioids.  I want to repeat that statement:  People do not become addicted to opioids.

Our Drug Rehabs Boston Staff State, “Opiates Addict People”

Riverbank house’s drug rehabs Boston staff are at the front lines. We see many individuals everyday at our addiction treatment centers. When we carefully assess new clients, we see that opiates addict people. It’s not semantics or word games.  If meat is tainted with salmonella, we don’t examine why people who ate the meat succumb to food poisoning.  If people are exposed to and infected by ebola, we don’t set out to examine why they succumb to the process of infection.

Addiction, infection and poisoning share a primary component, they all require exposure to a poisoning agent.  No exposure, no illness, therefore no tragedy.  Is there a moral component or personal choice involved in nonmedical opioid use?  Perhaps there is, if that’s where it feels good to put your focus.  But have the courage to follow that moral culpability backward up the chain. this goes from the cold table in the medical examiner’s office, back up to the needle.

It continues along to the dealer who made heroin available and cheap when the Oxycontin supply shriveled. Then it goes further back along the chain to the people diverting Oxycontin to the illicit market for profit. We can then trace it to the coffers of Purdue Pharma. Remember them, in 1996 they flooded the pharmaceutical market with Oxycontin while lying about its addictive risks.  And then follow the chain right back to its inaugural link to the $14 BILLION fortune that just landed the Sackler family. They are the owners of Purdue Pharma and on the Forbes 2015 Richest Families list.

If we’re going examine the where and why of the opiate apocalypse, the foundational premise of our questions should be sound.  And if we resist active community response to the drug addiction epidemic based on claims of morality, we should face those claims head on and responsibly by examining the entire chain of culpability.

Drug Rehabs Laconia, New Hampshire Are Saving Lives Everyday

Riverbank House drug rehabs Laconia, New Hampshire is fighting on the front lines everyday. Drug and alcohol addiction treatment resources are slim in the New England area. Our New Hampshire location is a short distance from there. We have put into place a dedicated staff that are saving lives every day.

Meanwhile, Massachusetts announced that 206 additional fatalities have been added to the 2014 tally of drug users who died before they had a shot at drug rehab and addiction treatment. Take a look at the startling data in Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine.

There is hope for the New England and Riverbank House is set-up to help the many that would have not received any help. Our drug and alcohol addiction treatment centers accept many insurances. there should be no barriers when you reach out for help. So, what’s stopping you, call 603-293-3989 now and get your live back under control.