AG Healey says opioid crisis is top priority

Recalling her experiences growing up with parents involved in local government, Attorney General Maura Healey reaffirmed the position of her office as a partner to communities across the state, while recognizing the differing needs of each region.
 
Speaking during the Women Elected Municipal Officials Luncheon at the MMA Annual Meeting on Jan. 22, Healey said, “I am somebody who fundamentally believes that all politics is local, and the engagement that we have with one another at that level is so fundamentally critical to the health and wellbeing of families and communities in our state and in fact across this country. I really respect and have the highest regard for the work you do, the time you put in. It is not easy.”
 
Healey said the top priority of the attorney general’s office currently is combating the heroin and opioid crisis that has hit hard in communities across Massachusetts.
 
“You know better than anyone how deep and wide this crisis is, what it does,” she said. “Not just the effects on individuals who are addicted, who are suffering, but their loved ones.”
 
She said all levels of government need to work together on the issue, and she commended the MMA for its just-released Opioid Task Force report.
 
In addition to addressing the over-prescribing habits of some medical professionals and the trafficking of drugs, Healey commended and pledged to continue supporting local law enforcement efforts to get people into treatment. She promised to keep working to raise awareness about the Good Samaritan Law, to provide the overdose-reversing drug Narcan at an affordable price to communities, and to work with the Legislature to address the crisis.
 
“We are with you in this fight,” she said.
 
Drawing attention to the ways her office can work with and for communities, particularly in protecting consumers, Healey highlighted the Community Engagement Division, launched last May, which brings lawyers and mediators from her office into communities for what she called “action hours” – open forums for handling consumer issues on the spot.
 
“Not enough people know what the attorney general’s office can do for them,” she said.
 
Communities can visit her office’s website (www.mass.gov/ago) to request these consumer open forums.
 
Healey said she has committed her office, through the Division of Open Government, to being an advocate for constructive changes in open meeting law. Healey said she recognizes the need for providing training and resources to local government on the public records and open meeting laws to avoid problems before they happen.
 
Healey cited other programs designed to assist local communities, specifically the Abandoned Housing Initiative and False Claims Act. She urged local officials who are faced with blighted properties to contact her office, which can help hold banks and property owners responsible and get homes back on the market at no cost to their community. The False Claims Act exists to go after contractors who do not perform as promised.
 
Healey spoke about other consumer issues her office is addressing, such as helping students and their families manage student loan debt. She also brought attention to her office’s partnership with the New England Patriots on Game Change, a program in nearly 100 high schools across the state educating students and training teachers about domestic and sexual violence.
 
Remarking on the packed room for the WEMO event, Healey said, “Women who serve, women who lead, it inspires me, and you guys fire me up!”