WEST HAVEN >> A free community forum on opioid addiction and treatment will be presented at 5:30-8:30 p.m. May 10, at the Savin Rock Conference Center, 6 Rock St.
“Let’s Change the Story,” will feature Dr. Petros Levounis, chairman of the department of psychiatry at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. He will speak on the addiction process and new treatments available to help those who want to stop using opioids.
The event is sponsored by Bridges Healthcare, a local provider of mental health, addiction and primary care services.
West Haven Pharmacy will prescribe, train and dispense naloxone, the medication used to reverse an overdose.
Those who want a prescription should bring their commercial or state insurance card. The state Department of Consumer Protection recently approved off-site licensing for pharmacists for this purpose, to allow more local residents to reverse an overdose and reduce the number of deaths from opioid overdose.
West Haven recorded 21 drug overdose deaths in 2016.
Bridges received a grant from the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services to increase its use of Medication Assisted Treatment options to assist community members affected by opioid addiction, and will have staff with information on its programs.
Bridges also operates its Young Adult Services program and Café Boutique in West Haven.
Information tables will be staffed by the city Health and Police departments; Substance Abuse Treatment Unit, part of Addiction Services of the Connecticut Mental Health Center; Yale University Addiction Research; Alliance for Prevention and Wellness; and the Milford Prevention Council.
Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and Levounis’ presentation, with questions and answers, will be 6-7:30.
Refreshments will be available. Information tables will be open until 8 p.m.
The forum is produced with funding from the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services, and with the Northeast Pharmacy Service Corp.
For more information, contact Marcy Hotchkiss, Bridges director of development and communications, at mhotchkiss@bridgesmilford.org or 203-878-6365, ext. 359.
West Haven Pharmacy will prescribe, train and dispense naloxone, the medication used to reverse an overdose.