FRYEBURG — Community leaders are hosting a public conversation about heroin addiction next week, hoping to head off an epidemic that has scourged towns across the state before it becomes a local crisis.

A coalition of local, state and federal agencies will gather at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 16, at Fryeburg Academy to discuss how heroin and opiates have affected the community.

Fryeburg, one of the busiest points of entry from New Hampshire, is a portal for traffickers transporting drugs from out of state into Maine, Police Chief Joshua Potvin said. In April, two Sweden residents were arrested in Fryeburg for importing heroin from Massachusetts, and Potvin said the town is in the middle of the state’s addiction.  

“For us, we know it’s coming through every single day,” he said.

Last year there were four overdoses in Fryeburg, Potvin said, though just one so far this year. That man was revived by an officer in June thanks to a new town policy allowing police to carry the drug Narcan, which reverses the overdose.

Potvin said the forum is about education and creating a dialogue between law enforcement and the community it serves. Officers are instructed to help anyone who voluntarily turns in himself or herself and their drugs.

“We have referred many families to nearby hospitals and treatment facilities,” he said. “However, we are finding addicts are understandably cautious about confessing drug use to law enforcement in fear of prosecution. In many cases it’s a family member who reaches out to us rather than the addict themselves.”  

On the other hand, Potvin said there’s “zero tolerance” for anyone caught in the act. 

“The addiction problem knows no boundaries, so law enforcement and the community shouldn’t be divided by a border, either,” he said. 
 
Erin Mayo, Fryeburg Academy’s head of school, said the prevalence of heroin abuse in the wider community hasn’t trickled down to students. Still, Mayo said, school officials have to be proactive to prevent a problem from taking root. 
 
“We don’t want to have our heads in the sand,” Mayo said. “We’re very aware of where we live and that we’re surrounded by hidden use,” she said. 
 
The Maine Attorney General’s Office says a record 272 people died of drug overdoses in 2015, a 31 percent increase from the record-breaking 208 deaths in 2014. 
 
More than half of those deaths, 157, were the result of overdoses of heroin or fentanyl, a powerful substitute. In some instances, users are unaware heroin has been swapped for fentanyl, triggering the overdose. 
 
Taylor Owens of Healthy Oxford Hills, a public health group organizing the event, said the group is hoping to raise awareness in as many communities as possible. She said questions would be answered and anyone wishing to volunteer could learn more. The goal, she said, was to “bring the community together to gain a deeper understanding, reduce stigma around treatment and recovery.” 
 
The Western Maine Addiction Recovery Initiative, which is hosting the forum, has scheduled similar meetings across Oxford County since its inception last September in Paris. It operates under Healthy Oxford Hills. 
 
Members of the Fryeburg Police Department, the attorney general’s office, town officials, emergency response providers, treatment providers, counselors and people in recovery are expected to speak. 
 
ccrosby@sunjournal.com 

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