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Recovery in the News
Group Plans Protest Tuesday to Keep Bridgewater Substance Abuse Treatment Center Open
Maureen Boyle
Enterprise News
September 19, 2009
Parents of opiate addicts say the state will handcuff efforts to get their children off drugs if it closes a drug treatment program on the Bridgewater prison complex grounds as planned.
And to make the point, members of Learn to Cope, a support group for families of opiate addicts, will wear handcuffs during a protest outside the Statehouse on Tuesday.
“This is what the governor is doing: he is handcuffing our families,” said Joanne Peterson, founder of Learn to Cope.
She said parents have been calling lawmakers, the state Department of Correction and the governor’s office to protest the planned closing and urge the decision be reversed. The protest will be held Tuesday at 2 p.m.
“It is about saving someone you love,” Peterson, said. “It is about saving lives.”
The state Department of Correction on Nov. 6 plans to close the 100-bed Massachusetts Alcohol and Substance Abuse Center (MASAC) on the state Department of Correction grounds in Bridgewater where thousands of men have been civilly committed by the courts, often at the request of relatives
The center will continue to take commitments until Oct. 16.
Judges can civilly commit the men for up to 30 days to the locked facility by law.
Families throughout the region have petitioned the courts to commit drug-addicted relatives to the locked facility as a desperate move to get them help.
Peterson said the commitments — commonly referred to as “Section 35s” or “petitions” — have saved lives by forcing addicts into treatment.
“If MASAC closes, we are going to document every single section that has been denied, every obituary will be sent to the governor and the commissioner,” Peterson said. “There will be lawsuits ahead when people start dying.”
A growing number of young adults in the greater Brockton-Taunton region, many in the suburbs, have become addicted to heroin in recent years. After getting hooked on OxyContin, many turn to the cheaper heroin as their addiction worsens. The issue was detailed by The Enterprise in two special reports. “Wasted Youth” and “Deadly Surge.”
The 14-member Massachusetts OxyContin and Heroin Commission, wrapped up a statewide fact-finding mission to learn what can be done to curb opiate addiction and help those who are addicted and is expected to issue a final report soon.
State Sen. Steven Tolman, D-Boston, who chairs the Massachusetts OxyContin and Heroin Commission, is also urging the Bridgewater center stay open.
READ MORE about this issue.
Maureen Boyle can be reached at mboyle@enterprisenews.com.
Copyright © 2009 GateHouse Media, Inc. Some Rights Reserved.