Substance Use Task Force Offers Free Community Dinner Tonight

WARE — The Quaboag Hills Community Coalition’s Substance Use Task Force is marking its one-year anniversary with a free educational Community Dinner at the United Church of Ware tonight, starting at 6 p.m.

The Community Dinner will include guest speakers Dr. Amanda Wilson from Clean Slate and the three district attorneys from Hampden (Anthony Gulluni), Hampshire (David Sullivan), and Worcester (Joe Early Jr.) counties, who serve the 15 communities in the Quaboag Hills area.

The Substance Use Task Force was established in July 2014. Representatives from healthcare, law enforcement, municipalities, schools, businesses, and families affected by addiction and concerned about the growing impact of the opioid epidemic came together to establish the task force. Its goals are to prevent and reduce substance misuse and addiction; contribute to reductions in health problems resulting from addiction, including deaths from overdose, injuries, and chronic illnesses; and increase treatment and recovery rates through community education and expanded access to support services for individuals and families.

The task force meets monthly and has sponsored community and professional education programs to train prescribers in safe opioid-prescribing practices and community members in the use of nasal Narcan as an overdose antidote. It has also created a local resource guide for people to find help. To learn more, visit qhcc.weebly.com.