[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 28 (Tuesday, February 13, 2024)]
[House]
[Pages H548-H549]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    ENCOURAGING NEWS IN CONNECTICUT

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentleman from 
Connecticut (Mr. Courtney) for 5 minutes.
  Mr. COURTNEY. Madam Speaker, I rise before the House today as the 
Member from eastern Connecticut having the honor to represent the 
Second Congressional District to report on some encouraging news on 
probably one of the most gut-wrenching, disheartening problems that our 
Nation faces, which is the epidemic of opioid overdoses.
  In the State of Connecticut, like other parts of the country, the 
rise of opioid deaths from 2012 up until 2021, 2022, has been 300 
percent.
  People are more likely to die from opioid overdoses than they are 
from motor vehicle accidents, and eastern Connecticut was no exception.
  Again, in 2021, the number of opioid deaths in New London County, 
which takes up the largest portion of eastern Connecticut by 
population, peaked at 134 deaths.
  Starting at that point, people decided it was time to get serious 
about trying to come up with ways to create more prevention and also 
remediation and recovery for people suffering from addiction.
  In 2022, that number dropped from 134 to 125. A couple days ago, the 
2023 numbers were reported, and it dropped to 71 deaths.
  This did not happen by itself. It was in collaboration with the 
community of New London, the New London Overdose Action Team, which was 
led by

[[Page H549]]

Margaret Lancaster from the Ledge Light Health District created in 
collaboration with the New London Police, the New London EMS, and 
social services agencies to get more Narcan kits out into the community 
and to educate people in terms of what to do in these situations, these 
crisis situations, and it is showing real results.
  In Norwich, which is also one of the larger communities that was hard 
hit, the Norwich Opioid Task Force was created, led by Kate Milde, who 
is the director of Norwich Human Services, again, in collaboration with 
the Norwich Police Department, EMS, the youth prevention team, and the 
Recovery Coach Program, which is led by Michael Doyle from Reliance 
Health.
  The Reliance Recovery Coach Program is a model with trained, street-
smart staff that are out in the community street by street, tracking 
where overdoses have occurred and distributing Narcan kits--500 in 
2023, and the number of deaths dropped from 34 to 17 in that community.
  Again, I salute Michael and his team who are amazing people doing 
hard work, saving lives, and getting this country better positioned to 
deal with this crisis.
  Again, I said it was encouraging news. We cannot end our efforts. We 
cannot stop there. We have more work to do in terms of making sure, 
through budgets in Washington and in State governments, that these 
incredible individuals are able to continue to do their work in 
collaboration with law enforcement and in collaboration with hospitals 
and EMT professionals to make sure that we save lives, get people into 
recovery, change lives, and get them up on their feet and contributing 
to our community.
  Madam Speaker, I end by saluting their great work and encouraging 
them to continue. We are watching you, and we are cheering you on.

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