From the Desk of Matt Cole, President & CEO, Cape Associates, Inc.
Recently HBO ran a documentary titled “Heroin: Cape Cod, USA” which focused on the lives of addicts living on Cape Cod. While the Cape is not immune to this national problem of opiate addition, the issue was unfairly portrayed. The issue is here, it is real, it is a problem and it needs to be dealt with. It is not shaping our community.
It is a complex problem that requires a multifaceted solution. Rising to this challenge is a consortium of health and human service organizations that have formed the Cape Cod Regional Substance Abuse Prevention Initiative.
http://www.capecodhealth.org/about/press-room/news/2014/cheryl-bartlett-joins-cchc/
The more you dig into the issue, the more you discover how widespread the problem is. In fact, Barnstable County does not have the highest concentration of deaths in the state. More information can be found here:
http://www.capecodtimes.com/overdoses
The Cape Cod Times has done a very nice job humanizing the issue in a way that shows how many victims, leading normal lives, end up trapped by the addiction. The stories of those they have profiled can be found here:
http://www.capecodtimes.com/losttoaddiction
