April McCullum

Free Press Staff Writer

More Vermonters died in 2016 from drug overdoses overall, and heroin and fentanyl in particular, according to preliminary data from the Department of Health.

The state reports that 104 people died last year from drug overdoses — almost as many as the number of overdose deaths in 2014 and 2015 combined, and the highest number in recent years. Most of the deaths were attributed to prescription-class opioids.

The report also says that 51 Vermonters died in 2016 from an accidental heroin overdose. It is unclear how many of the heroin overdoses may have also been counted in the 104 drug overdoses.

"I think it’s the worst that we’ve ever seen it," said Tom Dalton, coordinator for the Howard Center's Safe Recovery program in Burlington, which distributes the overdose-reversal drug naloxone, provides HIV testing, operates a syringe exchange and works to get people into medication assisted treatment.

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"We've had people that we’re working with who in the morning, we’re helping them get linked to treatment, and then in the afternoon we hear that they’ve died of a fatal overdose," Dalton added.

Dalton says Vermonters continue to experience an urgent need for medication-assisted treatment, and he supports a bill in the Legislature that would guarantee emergency treatment for anyone who needs it within 24 hours.

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Rep. Ann Pugh, D-South Burlington, chairs the House committee that is reviewing the bill about access to treatment. She said the bill is unlikely to move out of her committee by the Legislature's mid-session deadline, and that she needs more information to evaluate the idea.

"If there was a silver bullet answer we’d be doing it," Pugh said. "This is a complex issue that has many threads that don’t lend themselves to a one-size-fits-all response."

Pugh pointed to a recent presentation by outgoing Vermont Health Commissioner Harry Chen that showed Vermont had the lowest rate of overdose deaths in New England in 2015, while New Hampshire had the highest rate.

Lawmakers are considering a bill this year that would increase criminal penalties for the possession and sale of fentanyl, as well as a bill that would require state prisons to provide medication-assisted treatment to inmates.

Barbara Cimaglio, deputy commissioner of the Department of Health, said Vermont's efforts to date have made a difference, but drugs are getting cheaper and more dangerous.

"These numbers make it clear that the drugs out on the street are much, much stronger," Cimaglio said in a statement. "It's critical that people know there is help available nearby to get treatment and support."

Gov. Phil Scott's director of drug policy prevention, Jolinda LaClair, directed questions about overdose rates to the Department of Health.

Contact April McCullum at 802-660-1863 or amccullum@freepressmedia.com. Follow her on Twitter at @April_McCullum.

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