State Awards $2.5 Million to Support Opioid Abuse Prevention

Photo via AP/Mel Evans

Far from over, the opioid crisis has reached the all-hands-on-deck stage. Medical schools are altering their curricula to address it. Pharmacies are offering overdose kits. Law enforcement and medical officials are doing all they can. And now, another $2.5 million in aid money is going to criminal justice agencies around the state.

The federal grants were awarded to district attorneys, sheriffs, and other law enforcement officials in Massachusetts, based on their strategies for opioid prevention and their personal dedication to the cause. All proposed uses for the money had to focus on curtailing heroin and opioid abuse, and had to have an enforcement mechanism.

The Bristol County Sheriff’s Office received the highest grant, at $237,820, following its designation as a High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area last month. The Worcester County Sheriff Department’s $189,968 award was the next highest. Twelve of the Commonwealth’s 14 counties received at least one grant.

“Law enforcement is on the front lines of the opioid crisis and it’s incumbent on us to provide them with every available resource to save lives,” said Governor Baker in a statement. “These grants provide yet another tool for us to begin bending the trend of overdoses and deaths as we combat this epidemic.”