By Camille Andersen

The second virtual town hall discussing a supervised consumption site, held on Thursday, July 22, focused on the impact opioids have on family members and loved ones. The panel was moderated by Doug Kress, Director of Health and Human Services for Somerville. It featured Brian Sink and Mark McLaughlin, both harm reduction specialists, and local community member Bonny Carroll.

The town hall began with presentations of several videos that featured family members who have lost loved ones to fatal overdoses. “If they’re alive there’s always a chance for recovery. If the overdose prevention sites are manned with the appropriate staff, I believe that the compassion and the love is enough to bring up their self-esteem, develop relationships, and be open to wrap-around services,” said Lynn Wencus, a Somerville resident who lost her son to an overdose.

Bonny Carroll also shared her story about her son’s experience with addiction. She reflected on the past 30 years he has spent in and out of rehab, prison, and the hospital. “For him to see enough care and love to have a place to go where people would be treating him as a human being who deserves respect would make all the difference,” Carroll said in reference to a safe consumption site.

Mark McLaughlin and Brian Sink shared insight into the proposed site as a tool for harm reduction. Brian emphasized that the site will not draw in new people to start using, and shared that in other countries 70 percent of people who access these sites eventually go into treatment. “A person can’t get help if they’re not alive,” said Sink.

The town hall opened to audience questions for the panelists. Participants asked about the variety of services that would be offered at this site. The panel responded that these services would be based on what has worked in the countries with open sites and would include recovery resources, counseling, basic medical care, linkage to outside care, food provision, and case management. In addition to providing a safe space to use drugs, it will also act as an entry point to a multitude of other services in addition to recovery resources.

In response to concern that a supervised consumption site would not be a solution for substance use, Mark McLaughlin and TJ Thompson explained that the site would be a person’s first introduction to services. The site would start at the base level of keeping people safe and alive. As people using the site begin to build trust in the staff caring for them, they may be more inclined to utilize the other services being offered. At the 120 sites across the world there have been zero deaths.

Somerville’s supervised consumption site would be the first legally opened site in the United States. Local legislators are currently discussing this topic for Massachusetts, so it’s unclear what legal challenges will arise as this process moves forward.

Kress said the next steps are designing a proposal and choosing a location for the site. For more information and to read the full report, visit https://www.somervillema.gov/departments/programs/somerville-supervised-consumption-site-report.