LATEST STATS: Barnstable overdoses at 3 year high…

HN PHOTO: Yarmouth first responders saved a man’s life this morning at about 1:00AM. In a statement, the YPD said they have responded to 104 overdoses thus far in 2017. This morning’s 31-year-old was the 87th time they saved the life of someone overdosing on heroin/Fentanyl in 2017.

BARNSTABLE – The following BPD graphs illustrate the alarming increases in the Town of Barnstable’s overdose statistics, especially since June 2017.

Most of the graphs are published as received from the Barnstable Police Department, with the exception of the first two graphs which were edited and highlighted in red to further illustrate the increases in recent overdoses.

HN NOTE: The overdose epidemic is by far the most pressing concern for the Town of Barnstable. We’ve had 18 opiate overdose fatalities thus far in 2017! HN has always professed that reversing these deadly trends goes much deeper than law enforcement and recovery programs. We have a population that is suffering from the consequences of poor leadership. The answer, IMHO, is to continue to first try to stop the bleeding, which we have been doing for the past 3 years. But now is also the time to change Hyannis into a safe and prosperous choice for working families… which means going beyond the failing tourism economy, and inviting job rich industries. We need to tell the world we are open for business… and we need a town government that is primarily business and industry friendly. Like other cities which have completely changed their direction from being the “worst” to becoming the “best,” we need to do whatever it takes to make Barnstable and the city of Hyannis the logical choice for working families.

Right now, unfortunately, we are continuing to make Hyannis the logical choice for the poor, downtrodden, and homeless. We have basically become an outpatient ward for Massachusetts. All of the focus, necessarily, is on helping these poor souls… but what would happen if we started to make attracting young working families the priority for Hyannis?

I believe it would turn things around… and history is full of examples of cities making dramatic comebacks. But it takes leadership by people who really get it. I’m saying we definitely do NOT have that leadership right now. (Nice people… but poor ineffective leaders…)

It’s one thing to recover and survive opioid addiction… but it’s much more important to be able to thrive and prosper after one does the difficult work to get their life back!

A good job is one of the best recovery programs ever invented.

Want to save lives? Facilitate more job rich businesses and industries like we have never ever seen before!