BOSTON — Executive Director Allie Hunter and Co-Founder and Board Chair John Rosenthal of the Police Assisted Addiction & Recovery Initiative (P.A.A.R.I.), and with Massachusetts State Police Col. Christopher Mason are pleased to share that 34 pounds of unwanted medications were collected and nine people were trained to use NARCAN at a National Drug Take Back Day event held Saturday.
The Massachusetts State Police Community Liaison Team and P.A.A.R.I. collaborated for the first time to hold a National Drug Take Back Day event at the Massachusetts State Police Holden Barracks, and the event was a great success.
“We had a lot of great interactions with community members who stopped by with unwanted medications and stayed to discuss lifesaving resources like NARCAN,” Executive Director Hunter said. “We look forward to continuing to collaborate with Massachusetts State Police as we work to provide much-needed resources, education, and support to community members impacted by addiction.”
P.A.A.R.I. and Troopers from the Community Liaison Team also distributed educational materials.
“We are thrilled with the results of our first-ever drug take back event and would like to thank P.A.A.R.I. for their partnership and assistance,” said Col. Mason. “Being on the front lines of the fight against opioid trafficking, we know also that enforcement must be coupled with reduction of demand and access to treatment, and we look forward to partnering with P.A.A.R.I. on future take-back and educational events like the very successful effort we had Saturday.”
For more information on the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency’s National Drug Take Back Days, or to find locations where similar events will be held in the future, click here.
About the Massachusetts State Police Community Liaison Team
The Massachusetts State Police Community Liaison Team is a specialized unit of Troopers formed earlier this year that works to strengthen partnerships between Massachusetts State Police and the cities, towns and neighborhoods police work in across the Commonwealth. Troopers assigned to regional teams attend a wide range of community and civic events as they strive to enhance the strength of Community and police partnership, through open-dialogue and transparency, to ensure safety, inclusion, and equity for all citizens. For more information on working with the Community Liaison Team, email: MSPcommunityconnect@pol.state.ma.us.
About P.A.A.R.I.
The Police Assisted Addiction & Recovery Initiative (P.A.A.R.I.) is a nonprofit organization with a mission to help law enforcement agencies nationwide create non-arrest pathways to treatment and recovery. Founded alongside the groundbreaking Gloucester, Mass., Police Department Angel Initiative in June 2015, P.A.A.R.I. has been a driving force behind this rapidly expanding community policing movement. We provide technical assistance, coaching, grants, and other capacity-building resources to more than 680 police departments in 39 states. We currently work with more than 130 law enforcement agencies in Massachusetts alone. P.A.A.R.I. and our law enforcement partners are working towards a collective vision where non-arrest diversion programs become a standard policing practice across the country, thereby reducing overdose deaths, expanding access to treatment, improving public safety, reducing crime, diverting people away from the criminal justice system, and increasing trust between law enforcement and their communities. Our programs and partners have saved thousands of lives, changed police culture, reshaped the national conversation about the opioid epidemic and have placed over 30,000 people into treatment since its founding in June 2015. Learn more at paariusa.org.
