Summary/Abstract

Gloucester Police Department Chief Campanello implements revolutionary drug policy reform for law enforcement of opioid addiction.

Content

Gloucester Chooses Treatment over Prosecution for Opiate Addicts

 

Gloucester Police Department Facebook Page	Courtesy/John Guilfoil

 

In the first three months of 2015, Gloucester encountered the state’s opiate epidemic head on, responding to dozens of overdoses and experiencing four opiate deaths.

The deaths have propelled a dramatic change in Gloucester’s drug policies in the last month, with the town announcing Saturday that it will offer detox programs instead of jail time to addicts that turn themselves in with drug supplies.

Additionally, the department will use proceeds from drug forfeitures to supply Narcan, a nasal spray that can help revive someone in the midst of an overdose, to residents at little to no charge at local pharmacies.

“We recognize here that it’s a disease. It’s not a crime to be an addict,” said Police Chief Leonard Campanello.

Campanello has not been quiet about his desire to solve the town’s opiate problem. In a Facebook message in early March, he urged addicts to seek help, and told dealers that if they didn’t leave town, the police would find them.

“You will pay the price for making money off the misery of others,” he wrote.

The post helped spur a town-wide discussion to reform the drug policy. Since posting the updated changes to Facebook on Saturday, the post has received over 800,000 unique views.

Campanello is also making his way to Washington, D.C. next week to talk with U.S. Senators Elizabeth Warren, Ed Markey, and U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton about how to use national drug forfeiture funding to support the Narcan initiative and how to get insurers to fund detox programs.

“(We’re asking) what at a federal level these insurance companies can do for these community hospitals that want to do the work but can’t sustain themselves without assistance,” Campanello said, noting that Lahey Health’s Addison and Gilbert Hospital has partnered with Gloucester to fast-track people into substance abuse programs.

Attorney General Maura Healey and a number of police chiefs in the state are already taking note of the program. Campanello hopes the shift, one focused more on halting the demand of the drug rather than just cutting off the supply, will take hold more broadly.

“We know that when you reduce demand by showing people there is a better way, supply will dry up,” Campanello said.

From the Gloucester Police Department Facebook Page

On Saturday, May 2, the City held a forum regarding the opiate crisis, and on how Gloucester has many resources for help. We are poised to make revolutionary changes in the way we treat this DISEASE. Your Police Department vowed to take the following measures to assist, beginning June 1, 2015:

- Any addict who walks into the police station with the remainder of their drug equipment (needles, etc) or drugs and asks for help will NOT be charged. Instead we will walk them through the system toward detox and recovery. We will assign them an "angel" who will be their guide through the process. Not in hours or days, but on the spot. Addison Gilbert and Lahey Clinic have committed to helping fast track people that walk into the police department so that they can be assessed quickly and the proper care can be administered quickly.

- Nasal Narcan has just been made available at local pharmacies without a prescription. The police department has entered into an agreement with Conleys and is working on one with CVS that will allow anyone access to the drug at little to no cost regardless of their insurance. The police department will pay the cost of nasal narcan for those without insurance. We will pay for it with money seized from drug dealers during investigations. We will save lives with the money from the pockets of those who would take them. We recognize that nasal narcan is not the answer, but it is saving lives and no one in this City will be denied a life saving drug for this disease just because of a lack of insurance. Conleys has also agreed to assist with insurance requests from those who do not have any.

- I will personally travel to Washington DC, with the support of Mayor Theken, the City Council, Sen. Bruce Tarr, and Rep. Ann-Margaret Ferrante, on May 12 and 13. There I will meet with Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey and Congressman Seth Moulton. I will bring what Gloucester is accomplishing and challenge them to change, at the federal level, how we receive aid, support and assistance. I will bring the idea of how far Gloucester is willing to go to fight this disease and will ask them to hold federal agencies, insurance companies and big business accountable for building a support system that can eradicate opiate addiction and provide long term, sustainable support to reduce recidivism.

I am asking for your help. Like this post, send it to everyone you can think of and ask them to do the same. Speak your comments. Create strength in numbers. I will bring it with me to show how many voters are concerned about this issue. Lives are literally at stake. I have been on both sides of this issue, having spent 7 years as a plainclothes narcotics detective. I have arrested or charged many addicts and dealers. I've never arrested a tobacco addict, nor have I ever seen one turned down for help when they develop lung cancer, whether or not they have insurance. The reasons for the difference in care between a tobacco addict and an opiate addict is stigma and money. Petty reasons to lose a life.

Please help us make permanent change here in Gloucester.

Thank you,
Chief Campanello