'Facing Heroin' forum held in Berlin (original) (raw)

More than 250 people packed Berlin High School Wednesday night as North Country communities came together for the “Facing Heroin” forum.Click here to view News 9’s report.Officials revealed that 295 people have died of drug overdoses in New Hampshire in 2015, seven of them in Berlin.Bob Thompson, of Berlin Public Schools said Berlin High School has one of the worst heroin abuse rates in the state – 93 percent higher than those in other New Hampshire high schools.“It's a community problem. And when we identify a community problem, we can also turn around and identify a community solution,” said Thompson.“I think there may be some connection with the socioeconomic status,” said Thompson. “A lot of people have opinions on why that is. We've got a lot of prisons in town, and I think we're all down here pointing outside of ourselves for finding a reason for it.”Berlin Police Chief Pete Morency said that burglaries have gone up nearly 82 percent from 2014, and juvenile incidents have increased by 22 percent.“We're seeing a lot of property crimes, thefts, to be exchanged for drugs,” said Morency. “And that's not only affecting the victims of these thefts, that's affecting the person's family when they're arrested for these charges.”Morency said his officers are responding to two or three overdoses a week, but that Berlin lacks the resources to combat the heroin epidemic.Courtney Wrigley, of North Country Listens, said the organization held the forum to increase prevention, treatment and recovery in the North Country.“So tonight, we're probably not going to walk away with the solution, but it's a step in the direction of building community awareness, identifying local community actions, which will hopefully put us on the path to addressing this crisis,” said Wrigley.Thompson said he's hoping that new chemical-free prevention programs at the high school will discourage students from using drugs.“We're not sure that we're necessarily going to see some major impact in those numbers this round,” said Thompson. “But we're committed to doing whatever we can, partnering with whoever we can, to make a difference so those numbers do go down”New numbers for 2015 will be out in December.

BERLIN, N.H. —

More than 250 people packed Berlin High School Wednesday night as North Country communities came together for the “Facing Heroin” forum.

Bob Thompson, of Berlin Public Schools said Berlin High School has one of the worst heroin abuse rates in the state – 93 percent higher than those in other New Hampshire high schools.

“It's a community problem. And when we identify a community problem, we can also turn around and identify a community solution,” said Thompson.

“I think there may be some connection with the socioeconomic status,” said Thompson. “A lot of people have opinions on why that is. We've got a lot of prisons in town, and I think we're all down here pointing outside of ourselves for finding a reason for it.”

Berlin Police Chief Pete Morency said that burglaries have gone up nearly 82 percent from 2014, and juvenile incidents have increased by 22 percent.

“We're seeing a lot of property crimes, thefts, to be exchanged for drugs,” said Morency. “And that's not only affecting the victims of these thefts, that's affecting the person's family when they're arrested for these charges.”

Morency said his officers are responding to two or three overdoses a week, but that Berlin lacks the resources to combat the heroin epidemic.

Courtney Wrigley, of North Country Listens, said the organization held the forum to increase prevention, treatment and recovery in the North Country.

“So tonight, we're probably not going to walk away with the solution, but it's a step in the direction of building community awareness, identifying local community actions, which will hopefully put us on the path to addressing this crisis,” said Wrigley.

Thompson said he's hoping that new chemical-free prevention programs at the high school will discourage students from using drugs.

“We're not sure that we're necessarily going to see some major impact in those numbers this round,” said Thompson. “But we're committed to doing whatever we can, partnering with whoever we can, to make a difference so those numbers do go down”

New numbers for 2015 will be out in December.