FALMOUTH – In response to the increasing number of drug overdoses, Falmouth Police Chief Ed Dunne is planning a two-day summit this winter to discuss ways to fight the opioid epidemic.
Dunne said the summit will bring together the entire community including citizens, businesses, media and courts.
“We are going to sit down and we are going to brainstorm what we can do to deal with this addictive problem,” Dunne said.
Falmouth police have responded to 115 drug overdoses this year.
“I’m not happy with the numbers in Falmouth,” Dunne said. “But we are dealing with them the best we can with the tools that we have now.”
Town officials met this week to plan the summit which is expected to take place in January.
Dunne said the goal of the summit will be to reduce the numbers of overdoses.
“I’m in my 37th year of law enforcement and I have not seen anything like this before,” Dunne said.
Dunne said the driving force behind the epidemic is still an unknown.
“We’ve all heard that it’s the prescription drugs that is the gateway to this, but I’m not even sure that’s the main cause,” he said.
Dunne said the problem impacts that whole community as police and fire personnel along with medical staff are impacted by the victims.
“It ties up all those services and things like that,” he said. “So there is a bigger picture and a bigger cost to the communities.”
The date for the summit is still in the planning stages.
By BRIAN MERCHANT, CapeCod.com NewsCenter
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