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Report Says Manchester Making Progress in Combating the Opioid Crisis

Paige Sutherland/NHPR
Manchester's Public Health Director Tim Soucy last year picked up nearly a dozen needles while walking around the city.

Manchester’s public health director says based on last year’s numbers, the city’s drug problem is still serious but efforts to address it are working.

According to a 24-page report released this week, Manchester seems to have made a dent in the opioid crisis. Nearly 4,000 grams of drugs were seized in the city, thousands of people accessed treatment and 63 more residential beds were added.

The city’s public health director Tim Soucy says this shows Manchester is heading in the right direction.

“A lot has gone on in Manchester – a lot of people are working together both within and outside the city. We all recognize that this has reached crisis proportions and everyone has sort of have come out of their silos and said what can we do to pitch in and make it better,” Soucy said.

But Soucy stresses more needs to be done such as providing more supportive and sober housing, additional treatment for youth and building extra space for some of the already existing treatment facilities.

Last year the Queen City saw nearly 800 drug overdoses and 90 fatalities. 

Full Report: Manchester's Response to the Opioid Crisis 2016

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