Our state needs to reconcile with the uncoordinated and poorly planned response to the opioid crisis. This is most evident in New Haven, where we have a major methadone clinic with documented incidents of nearby drug dealing and violence 330 feet from an elementary and middle school.

Kids walking to school aren’t safe, but there has been no concrete plan to move the site on 495 Congress Avenue in the immediate future. 

This is but one of the reasons why our state needs to hold a public hearing on the response to the opioid crisis, and it needs to be held in New Haven, specifically at John Daniels school.

Our legislators should see firsthand, as I did recently, how close this school is to a methadone clinic tied to drug dealing and even a murder. Legislators should hear from our New Haven residents, particularly those in underserved communities of color, on how they have been left out of the conversation on where methadone clinics and safe-use injection sites are decided. Our legislators should hear from our academic community and clinical staff about effective practices in ensuring that methadone clinics are well-run, orderly, and beneficial to their inhabited community. 

Read the full position piece at the CT Mirror

https://ctmirror.org/2023/03/20/ct-needs-public-hearing-opioid-crisis-new-haven/