The City of Somerville saw a recent spike in overdoses, prompting the Somerville Police Department to publish an overdose warning on Jan.19. Five overdoses occurred on the weekend prior to the warning, three of which were fatal.
The SPD warned that the spike in overdoses could be indicative of a “bad batch” of illicit drugs being distributed locally. The substances involved in the overdoses have not been confirmed, though fentanyl is suspected as a contributing factor.
“Although we have not yet confirmed which substances were used by the victims, historically fentanyl, its variants, or other drugs containing fentanyl or its variants are responsible for the majority of overdoses,” SPD Administrative Captain Jeffrey DiGregorio wrote in a statement to the Daily.
The department is investigating all incidents and working with the city’s Health and Human Services Department to share safety information with the community, but has not released specific details.
“What we can share at this time is that we are working to determine whether the illicit drugs involved in these overdoses originated from the same source,” DiGregorio wrote.
Somerville’s Health and Human Services Department is continuing outreach and harm reduction efforts while working to raise awareness in response to the increase in overdoses.
“Whenever we see a confluence of overdoses like this, we do take it seriously, of course, and we try and raise awareness there,” Connor McCombs, the health communications officer for the City of Somerville, said.
The Health and Human Services Department provides all three branches of the Somerville Public Library with harm reduction supplies such as naloxone, the opioid-overdose antidote commonly known as Narcan, as well as fentanyl and xylazine test strips. Library patrons also have the opportunity to meet with a social worker who can connect them to additional resources for addiction recovery, medical and mental health care and more.
“We are free and open to the public, and that does mean that we get everyone from the community spending time in our spaces during the day, so there are times where people who are using substances are spending time in the library,” Jake Savage, a social worker at Somerville Public Library, said. “Part of my role as the social worker is to connect with people and to help connect them with resources for treatment.”
Library staff have been trained in harm reduction, including how to respond to an overdose, with many staff also being trained to administer Narcan. According to Savage, several overdoses, particularly in the West Branch Library, have been reversed by either library staff or community members administering Narcan.
“I can say that lives have literally been saved because of having these supplies on hand and having staff and community members educated in how to use them,” Savage said.
Library social workers aim to continue working with individuals they assist during overdose or drug misuse situations to help reduce drug-related harm in the community.
“A goal of harm reduction is often education and … capitalizing on the moment that someone has to intervene in order to connect someone potentially with services,” Savage said. “We are giving out things, no questions asked … but I am there to check in and check in again, and look for those windows of opportunity when someone might be ready to take the next step.”
The library is a community space, so staff work to balance safety for the whole community, making sure to enforce the library’s behavior policy.
“It’s against the library’s behavior policy to be using substances in the libraries, or to cause conflict, to harass people, and so if someone is in violation of our policies, library staff would intervene,” Savage explained.
The Health and Human Services Department also installed two public health vending machines that include naloxone and overdose prevention tools at the end of November as a part of Somerville’s harm reduction efforts. These are stationed outside of the West Branch Library and close to the East Branch Library.
“It’s what the research shows works,” McCombs said. “Shame and lack of resources does not prevent people accessing or using drugs, but access to things like Narcan or other overdose prevention supplies does prevent death and does serve as a bridge to other resources that can help someone get the help that they need in the long run.”
