Progress on combating the opioid epidemic in Massachusetts has been uneven. While the rate of drug overdose deaths decreased statewide from 2017-2018, according to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, there was a 73 percent increase in the four western counties.
The Massachusetts Health Policy Forum recently released a new report examining the impact of the opioid crisis in small and rural communities in western Massachusetts.
The report was developed by a team led by Constance Horgan, director of the Institute for Behavioral Health at Brandeis University.
She spoke with WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill.
