With heroin use a rising concern on the Cape and Islands, the Penikese School has announced plans to reopen as a residential treatment center.
With heroin use a rising concern on the Cape and Islands, the Penikese School has announced plans to reopen as a residential treatment center.
Islanders working to treat or prevent addiction on Martha’s Vineyard met Thursday with Cong. William Keating for a frank discussion of opiate abuse.
After more than a year pursuing a state license, a small treatment center on Penikese island is preparing to open its doors. The newly-licensed Penikese, a program for adolescent boys with substance abuse and mental health issues, expects to open June 23.
The Island’s only intensive outpatient substance abuse program, New Paths Recovery, was inaugurated with a five-year grant from the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital in the summer of 2010. That grant is set to expire in 10 months.
Island police and members of the drug treatment community agree that heroin use on the Island is on the rise, along with fatal drug overdoses.
As I learned firsthand over recent years, a critical component of this support must be sober living homes. These are the facilities that are meant to provide people with an opportunity to recover in a safe environment.
