Good morning ~

August is a momentous month for those who work to address the lingering impact of addiction, as we recognize both National Fentanyl Awareness and Prevention Day on August 21st and International Overdose Awareness Day on August 31st.

We applaud these and other efforts, such as Black Balloon Day and National Recovery Month, which draw our attention to the powerful hold addiction can have on ourselves, families, neighborhoods, workplaces, and communities, while also illuminating the multiple pathways of treatment, healing, and recovery.

What is a common thread amid all these efforts? Harm reduction.

Harm reduction can be a controversial term, but it shouldn't be. Tapestry, a long-time member of the Opioid Task Force, has taught us that harm reduction takes many forms, and we all practice harm reduction every day.

Put on your seat belt? Apply sunscreen? Stop at a stop sign or red light when driving? Put on a helmet when riding a bicycle or motorcycle? Put on gloves when gardening or making a home repair? Lock your doors or windows at night before you go to sleep?

All of these practices are designed to reduce harm and keep us and our loved ones safe.

Harm reduction in the public health sphere applies these same principles. How do we keep people safe when they are struggling with addiction?

Thanks to the persistent efforts of Dr. Ruth Potee, the Opioid Task Force's medical director, and other addiction experts across the country, we now know that addiction is a complex brain disease, and not a moral failing. It can be chronic and recurring, but people recover.

In fact, millions of people report they are in recovery, according to research conducted by Dr. John Kelly, Founder and Director of the Recovery Research Institute. This is an astounding statistic, made possible because individuals and their loved ones practiced harm reduction.

Our community's commitment to harm reduction has produced results. As shown in the chart below, we've made significant progress in reducing fatal overdoses from 2023 to 2024 by keeping people safe. A comprehensive approach has contributed to this success, including widespread access to life-saving naloxone, increased availability of medications for opioid and substance use disorders, and expanded post-opioid overdose follow-up and outreach services, among others.

While we are encouraged by this decline in opioid-related fatalities, we are not content by a long shot.

We want to continue to learn and innovate, so we can keep our community members alive, so they can make decisions that work best for their treatment and recovery journey. To that end, we hope you will join us on Friday, October 24, 2025, from 9:30 AM to 2:30 PM, for a symposium on harm reduction, to be held at Greenfield Community College, One College Drive, in Greenfield, MA. More details will be forthcoming next month.

Thank you for all you do to support our community to prevent harm, while offering hope and help.

Sincerely,

Register John F. Merrigan

 Northwestern District Attorney David E. Sullivan

Sheriff Lori M. Streeter

 Co-chairs, Opioid Task Force of Franklin County and the North Quabbin Region