AUBURN — A rash of heroin overdoses in Auburn, culminating in five in one week, prompted the city to get more information to the public about treatment and enforcement options.
“About a month ago, we had a spate of overdoses in about a week,” Deputy Police Chief Jason Moen said Monday. “They weren’t all deaths, but it really brought it to our attention that we need to do something.”
The city kicked off the weeklong Hero Initiative with a news conference Monday morning in the City Council Chambers on the second floor of Auburn Hall.
The city and the Auburn Police Department will host community forums Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week, featuring local law enforcement officers, drug treatment professionals and social services representatives to talk about reducing the drug’s impact.
“I’ve been working in this city for over 20 years, and there are some resources that even I was not aware of,” Moen said. “So we can get the word out to folks that are really looking for help. It’s a two-pronged approach, the enforcement side and the treatment side. Because we are not going to arrest our way out of this.”
The first event is a workplace forum for local business leaders and supervisors from 2-4 p.m. Tuesday in Auburn Hall.
That will be followed by three evening Community Forums. The first is at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Community Little Theater, 30 Academy St. The second, 6 p.m. Wednesday at West Auburn Congregational Church, 811 West Auburn Road. The final forum is at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Tailgate Gourmet, 272 S. Main St.
The effort culminates in the annual collection of unwanted or old prescription drugs, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at Bedard Pharmacy, 359 Minot Ave.
“What we’ve done today is just a kind of a highlight of what we plan to do at these forums,” Police Chief Phil Crowell said. “This all leads up to the drug take-back on Saturday. Last year, we took in more than 1,000 pounds of prescription drugs off the street. We want them off the street and we know that they lead to property crimes and burglaries. So getting them out of the medicine cabinets helps.”
Crowell said Auburn has investigated 29 heroin overdoses since 2013, with seven resulting in deaths. Twelve of those overdoses, including two deaths, happened in 2015.
Crowell said his officers are working with the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency as well as local prosecutors and the U.S. Department of Justice on the effort, aiming to stop heroin shipments before they get to Auburn.
The city is also partnering with drug treatment providers like St. Francis Recovery Center, Tri-County Mental Health and Recover Together to help addicts get help.
“There is a lot of conversation about treatment, but we also need to stop that supply,” Crowell said. “This is going to take all the resources. We can’t just pile everything into one area. It’s going to take us all working together.”
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