The problem of addiction on MV is huge. Opiates,Alcohol, Coke. Yet we have our heads in the sand when it comes to treatment. I think we would see more people in treatment if they could get it here. Why are we not doing more? Arrests are one thing. Good job. But now what? Why would dealers be here if they didn't have a clientele. Alcoholism is out of control too. Where can addicts and alcoholics detox? They have to leave their families and jobs and that is IF they find a bed in an off Island facility. We need to take better of OUR OWN. We need to do more. !!!!

Great job by the EPD! They're selling poison and profiting from the destruction of the community. If you know a drug dealer report them...they're hurting us all.

Sad to hear so many people are turning to drugs and or alcohol. MV definitely has a drug problem. MV Hospital should have made space for a treatment facility. That huge building with so much wasted space and money. They should have kept some in an account to earn interest to ensure the salaries of the nursing staff.

While we should commend the EPD for their work, I'd wager the greater problem here on island, and off for that matter is in fact prescription drugs. Some of the same docs people love and rave about are the same ones feeding addictions to so many on island. Docs and nurses besides the addicted know who these prescribers are, and nothing is being done. These people are committing crimes far more grave than street dealers, as the are breaking an oath as well as making a profit.

To WD, VH...Sad but true. Prescribing Opiates to Adderall and making a lot of money doing so.

My son is a recovering heroin addict. He shot heroin into his veins for 10 years. You don't just go to detox for 5 days and then go home and think you're not going to use again. Without long term rehab a heroin addict has no chance of staying clean. Heroin is a disease of the brain. For many people using heroin just a couple of times is enough to get them into full addiction. Once heroin takes over the brain the addict is completely under the control of the drug. It takes long term rehab of a minimum of 8 months to 2 years to break the cycle and give the addict a chance at recovery. Even then, an addict needs to work hard every single day to stay clean. When an addict does finally reach his bottom and tries to get into rehab after detox he usually has to wait weeks to get a bed. Most addicts won't remain clean while they wait. They will use again. They will try to use the same amount of the drug that they were using before detox which will cause them to overdose. My son has been clean for 3 years. I am a member of an online group of Moms who have children who are addicts. There are 13,000 of us in the group. There is an epidemic going on right now, right here and it isn't Ebola or the Enterovirus. It's heroin. Something needs to change. We are losing our children at an alarming rate and most people are oblivious of this. What's the answer? I don't know but we better find one soon.

Fill up the JAILS, Build more if you have to, Ship then off-island! Our island justice system enables and encourages this trade and behavior. STOP all your wineing and get tough, send a message that we wont coddle any of you any more because we see that surely doesn't work! Get a life and face the realities that what you are doing doesnt work, never has & never will!

I re read this article & the comments. I guess I will just say the Police want your help. The dr/Dr's that prescribe these addicting drugs..are supposedly well known & loved. I have to say it's not about being loved the issue at hand is stopping the over prescribing of these Opiates. Some of these medications can only be prescribed by one type of specialized Dr.last I knew the allowed treatment was one hundred patients? What I do know is that other physicians and Pharmacists that see these odd prescriptions..are required by law to report them. This problem with over prescribing & drugs are everyone's job in reporting. If everyone looks away-then this individual professional continues. So many people feel it's about keeping friends. .When lives are at stake..it is not..These if you have facts, as documented examples. Report them. TELL THE POLICE..WRITE THE MEDICAL LICENSING BOARD.these reports for the licensing board need to be reported, They are followed up on. The physician in question is supposed to be tagged..In case of more complaints..This is not a friendship game. These are A MATTER OF LAW. A Matter of life or Death for some individuals.These medications in combination with other extremely dangerous drugs are killing people/people are killing themselves. Prescription Opiates are accounted for. Everyone is responsible. Medical Licensing Board of Massachusetts. .on line..Please if you know of this report it. A well loved doc. Isn't worth protecting if his way is to over prescribe,they get sold people overdose. How many will remain silent while they see another person with an odd prescription. It is everyone's issue, so I suggest if you know of someone REPORT IT. Reports are supposed to be anonymous . personally if I had proof of any of this I would not care who knew I made a complaint. A good specialist that over prescribes is everyone's problem.

I'm happy to see these drugs off the street. My 21 yr old nephew died from heroin in January after using for less than 6 months. He was a wonderful young man who had worked since he graduated high school. He earned enough money to buy a house (in the midwest) and he had a baby girl. Addiction i is a disease of the brain, and we still have much to learn. There isn't an acceptable dose of heroin. People don't die from a heroin overdose. They die from heroin. Today's heroin isn't allowing people to use for 10 years. They are dying rapidly. I hope to see more services available to help Islanders learn how to cope with stress in a healthy way. For people needing counseling, the community services wait list is long. Who is teaching coping skills to our young adults? Are they getting stress reduction assistance in middle school and high school? For adults, where are the support groups for people having difficulty managing life stress? The vineyard population needs better access to mental health support, and it needs to be socially acceptable to ask for it. Too many people are using alcohol, pot, and drugs as a means of coping with life's difficulties. Call a friend who is struggling and ask them to meet for coffee/tea or a walk today or tonight on our beautiful Island, rather than meeting at a bar.

What possess someone to take that initial leap into heroin use? Is it that they are already addicted to a prescriotion drug that they no longer have access to? Is it for thrills? Boredom? Depression? what starts the ball rolling here? Im not judging, I know addiction is a sickness, but its a totally avoidable one. And its one that you voluntarily enter into. I dont wish harm to anyone, but I have a difficult time having sympathy for people who make disasterous decisions that hurt themselves and everyone around them, then need the community to pick up the pieces.

One problem that is overlooked is that so many of these young people have grown up in homes where parents, aunt's uncle's and even grandparents are using...What are they supposed to think? Where is the bar being set? What values are being imparted? Look at the court reports. Many of these crimes we see reported are generational. We see the same names over and over. More often than not, the family is not doing their part to prevent or to help treat these young people. We cannot always depend on other's to do what is our job at home. We all have watched friends and family raise kids knowing drug use is going on at home and say nothing. Everything from alcohol, to pot, to pills, to cocaine is being used in many homes. Many still think that if Mom and Pop are just smoking weed and drinking beer that everything will turn out OK. Dimes to doughnuts all of these heroin addicts started out on pot (at home) and beer. If it takes a village to raise a child, then speak up when you see this! It is child abuse, neglect, and exposing innocent children to life threatening behaviors. No different than knowing they are being beaten on a daily basis.

All these comments ignore the acquisition process requires funding to evolve a sustained drug habit. Crime is not at levels creating horror on the Island. In jail you watch people detox daily. You hear the sources of the drugs and inadvertently find most sources of funding via who picks up the tab for legal fees. The judges on the Island can only act on the charges brought by the DA's office. Plea bargaining is done by the DA. Remember that when you vote. Too many people the only place they stay clean is a jail. You can stay clean anywhere you just want to do it. The enablers are as guilty as the dealers.

Heroin addiction is national problem. It has come from the biggest pharmaceutical companies pushing certain addictive medications. Chicago is just one of the cities that has filed a lawsuit against the big Pharma companies for this problem. Doctors many of whom are unaware, have gone along with it. Once Istop was put into place to track the prescribing of medication to patients, the over- prescribing stopped for the most part. It left a vastly increased number of people suffering from substance use disorder, a medical disease of the brain, searching for a way to fill the void of their addiction. Opiate addiction is replacing one form of the drug with another. This occurs when the Doctors cease prescribing an opiate in the form of a pill to someone who then turns to heroin, cheaper and easier to get than beer in many states. As the director of NIDA, Dr. Nora Volkow stated, " In all my years as a physician, I have never, ever met an addicted person who wanted to be an addict.". The disease of addiction is 50 to 75% genetics according to CASAColumbia. This epidemic is taking star athletes and valedictorians as well as older adults ( see NY TIMES article October 3, 2014 "More Older Adults Are Struggling With Substance Abuse") and everyone in-between. It has nothing to do with age, race, education, financial status or anything else. It is a disease like cancer or heart disease, even diabetes that does not discriminate. The stigma and lack of medically factual awareness is stunning to read here in some of the comments. ONDCP Director Michael Botticelli said, "We cannot incarcerate addiction out of people". Why do you think the rate of recidivism in our prison system is so high? Talk about cost to taxpayers and worse the cost in waste of human lives. People need treatment and support, so they can reach sustained recovery (think chemo and cancer and yes, relapse also can occur). It is the humane way to address this progressive disease. It is why all across this country, laws are changing to help those low level offenders stay out of jail and receive the treatment they need. It is why the war on drugs is over. It is now a fact that this is a health issue we are dealing with. It is why Narcan is now available, to save precious lives. Legal Action Center's statement is but one insight into how far and wide as well as dangerous the heroin epidemic has become. "Why it's more important than ever that people in the justice system have access to medication-assisted treatment for #opioid addiction, such as #methadone and #buprenorphine. Visit the Legal Action Center's website for more information on how denying these life-saving medications to people in the justice system violates anti-discrimination laws & the U.S. Constitution." Folks, we need to care. Not one person reading this will remain immune from knowing someone touched by addiction of some type. According to RADM Boris D. Lushniak, M.D., M.P.H., Acting U.S. Surgeon General "In fact, at some time in their lives, nearly all Americans will be affected by a mental health or substance use disorder in themselves or their families.” It is time to become educated as a nation.

Some of these comments make me sick. It is a DISEASE...not a choice. Yes, the first time someone tries something its a choice but the addiction is already in you laying dormant. Some of the comments are so cold I can't believe it. Does anyone have compassion in this world anymore. I lost my nephew 6 months ago to this DISEASE. He lived a tormented sad life of addiction and we all tried everything to help. You think your Island is too precious for an addict?? I can tell you that I know a lot of people who are in recovery and they are the nicest people I've ever met. Its from the 12 steps. I highly recommend them for anyone!!! Everyone has made mistakes, sinned, lied etc. Why don't you try and help someone instead of bashing them and wanting to push them off your precious Island. We have multiples deaths per day off Island!!!!! The article came out because of two overdoses with one ending in death. You have no clue how bad it really is.