The Western Connecticut Council of Governments is working to bring together all related agencies and department to focus on a response to the opioid abuse crisis. WestCOG has come up with some recommendations and actions to combat the crisis.
Newtown First Selectman Pat Llodra says there is no denying that Connecticut, and the country is in the grips of a significant public health crisis, which shows no signs of abating. Llodra says there were 13 fatal overdoses among Newtown residents from 2009 through 2014. She says data will show even more such events from 2014 through today.
The data was collected from the Connecticut Medical Examiner's Office. In Danbury during that time, there were 37 fatal overdoses. New Milford recorded 20 and there were 10 in Bethel.
Llodra says the opioid addiction crisis is robbing municipalities of young and not-so-young people who are imprisoned in a habit of drug use that threatens their lives and creates emotional pain for their loved ones. She called for all residents to get informed, get involved and help propel the issue to public consciousness.
