FARMINGTON — A new program to help local people facing drug addiction will be launched Feb. 1 by local police and treatment services.

Operation HOPE — Heroin-Opiate Prevention Effort — is a collaboration among Franklin Community Health Network, Evergreen Behavioral Services, the Farmington and Wilton police departments and the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department.

It has been established in response to the increasing use of illegal drugs and the effect it has on the community, Farmington Police Chief Jack Peck said.

The program is a “three-pronged approach to combating the use of illegal drugs — enforcement, education and treatment,” he said.  

Operation HOPE will allow officers to help those who want to end their addictions. Anyone who requests help will be referred to treatment and education through the Franklin Community Health Network and Evergreen Behavioral Services.

“We can’t arrest our way out of the drug crisis,” Wilton Police Chief Heidi Wilcox said. “People can come to us when they are ready to get help.”

Resources are available, including helping those with drug issues to take the first step and reach Evergreen, she said.

FCHN and Evergreen are conducting an assessment to see whether they can offer a nonresident rehabilitation unit, Evergreen Executive Director Dalene Sinskie said. The closest units are in Lewiston and Augusta.

Operation HOPE is based on a program that is working in Gloucester, Mass. Scarborough is also seeing good success with its program, Wilcox said. 

The Scarborough program started Oct. 1, 2015. In just over three months, 100 people have come in to seek help, Peck said.

Addiction is recognized as a disease, and one that has touched almost every person in the community, in one way or another, he said. It affects all walks of life, ages and genders.

A person can become addicted to a drug from a legitimate medical use, he said. Some take an opiate for a medical reason and become addicted, then misuse the drug. As their dependency increases, they are fueled to get those drugs, he said.

“It is a vicious cycle,” he said. “We’re looking to do our part if they want help.”

Officers see the drug problem in one form or another on a daily basis. It can be an underlying cause of theft, burglaries and domestic issues, he said.

The program is offered for users and loved ones who need assistance, he said.

“‘My kid is in trouble and I don’t know what to do,'” is a call Wilcox often receives, she said. The caller doesn’t want to report a crime. But their kids or adult children are stealing from them and pawning items to support their drug habits, she said.

The chiefs cautioned that the program does not mean they will turn a blind eye to crime.

An example offered by Wilcox is one of a woman out on bail. Bail checks show drugs in her system. Instead of an immediate arrest, the officer can offer to get help. If she agrees, she may be taken to the hospital instead of jail, but she will still face the charge in court, Wilcox said.

Evergreen provides counseling services twice at week at the jail, Sinskie said. The counselor, Nicholas Citriglia, has expertise in counseling for substance abuse.

Police also see drug addiction as an underlying factor in domestic violence situations. Family issues can be aggravated because of drug use, Wilcox said.

“It affects everything — their incomes, their parenting, their ability to work,” she said. “They are often scared themselves and don’t know what to do.”

Many are afraid to ask for help for fear of being labeled, Sinskie said. It could affect their work if employers found out. 

All efforts through Operation HOPE or Evergreen are strictly confidential, she said.

Amnesty will be given to anyone who contacts either police agency and turns in illegal drugs, paraphernalia or misused prescription medication, Peck said.

abryant@sunmediagroup.net

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