Councilor Andrew Fitch – who was the top vote getter in his first run for office in 2023 – brought the issue before the nine-member body.
“We have several issues that affect our community," said Fitch. "One of the largest is addiction, is overdose deaths. And so, I thought it was really worth having a presentation tonight to go through the facts and figures so we can learn a little bit more about this, help kind of cut through the stigma, educate ourselves, and hopefully also help solve this problem.”
Krystle Kincaid works for Berkshire Harm Reduction, a Massachusetts Department of Public Health funded program by Berkshire Medical Center that operates out of three locations in the county: Pittsfield, North Adams, and Great Barrington. The group offers drug testing, clean syringes, and distribution of naloxone — the life-saving opiate overdose reversal drug best known under the Narcan brand.
“What we're finding now is a lot of our substances that are in North County have not only fentanyl," said Kincaid. "I can tell you that a majority of them definitely do have fentanyl, whether it's an opiate or a stimulant. A lot of our cocaine and crack samples are also coming in with fentanyl in them.”
Kincaid said that the presence of veterinary tranquilizer xylazine in the drug supply is further complicating the situation.
“What we're finding with that is that we're having a lot more overdoses, and it's taking a lot more Narcan for somebody to finally get out of that, because it can put somebody in cardiac arrest, it represses everything, their blood pressure drops, it can be really, really scary,” she continued.
Kincaid told the council that in 2022, Berkshire County saw 47 overdose deaths. 12 were in North County, and eight of those deaths were members of the North Adams community.
North Adams is Berkshire County’s second-largest municipality.
Statewide, Massachusetts recorded a record 2,300 opiate-related overdose deaths in 2022. Kincaid then directed the councilors to the sample doses of naloxone sitting before them.
“What we have is Narcan that we're literally trying to get to everybody," she explained. "We give two doses out, and all of you have some at your table. It's the easiest thing to use. It has no adverse effects. You can give it to anybody, and if they're not having an opioid overdose, they're going to get a wet nose. That's it. It's just like Afrin. You just put it in your nose and you pump it. You don't have to prime it, it takes three minutes to start working, and it can save somebody's life.”
Last year, Berkshire Harm Reduction installed boxes filled with free naloxone doses throughout the county. The Food and Drug Administration approved the first over-the-counter version of the drug in March 2023.
Kincaid said naloxone remains viable and safe to use up to 10 years after each dose’s expiration date.
Council Vice President Ashley Shade applauded the presentation and proposed further collaboration between Berkshire Harm Reduction and North Adams’ Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access Commission.
“This is an extremely important thing for anybody to know, because, as has been said repeatedly, just knowing the steps and having this available can and will save lives," she said. "And you just never know during a medical emergency what that might be. So, just being able to administer this and provide that to somebody could save a life, and that's really important. I would love to have a conversation with [Kincaid] outside of the meeting and potentially have a joint training with you with the IDEA commission. I think that'd be a great way to utilize our IDEA commission and your services as well and put on a public forum for the community.”
“I know there are some members of the community that don't believe in you the use of Narcan, but if you can save a life, maybe you've given that person a new opportunity to be able to get away from the opiates and to be able to recover and be able to lead a normal life further on," said Council President Bryan Sapienza. "It's a terrible epidemic, and you just never know when you're going to be in a situation where you're going to have to provide this life saving service.”
