Norwich — Tackling heroin addiction in southeastern Connecticut will require a coordinated effort, from mental health services to education to new laws, local and state elected officials said Thursday.  

“We have hit the map in the national conversation on this topic, unfortunately,” said Kevin Skulczyck, the co-chairman of the Southeastern Connecticut Council of Governments' legislative committee and Griswold's first selectman.

The New London area has recently seen a spike of suspected heroin overdoses. 

Lawrence + Memorial Hospital treated 26 such cases between Jan. 27 and Monday, and in addition, one person, at the outset of the spike, died before reaching the hospital, according to Lawrence + Memorial Hospital spokesman Mike O'Farrell. 

At the regional council's legislative committee meeting on Thursday, local officials and state legislators from the region met to discuss the issues facing the legislature.

They talked at length about addressing opioid addiction and called for collaboration from all parts of the community.

“We have realized that this is a really, very serious issue, not only in southeastern Connecticut, but throughout the state,” said state Rep. Kathleen McCarty, R-Waterford, a member of the Public Health Committee.

McCarty said the committee, which will hold public hearings to listen to possible solutions, has been looking into prescription monitoring and pharmacy training to make sure people aren’t overprescribed, she said.

She said other initiatives, from working with police departments to educating students at an early age about drug abuse, are also important.

McCarty added that proposed cuts to mental health grants under the governor’s budget is another challenge facing the state, because the issue is related to mental health.

“I really feel that we focus a little bit too much on the actual drug and not enough on the behavioral health issues,” added state Rep. Susan Johnson, D-Windham, as she weighed in on the topic. “People with post-traumatic stress disorder, people who are experiencing pain, people who have behavioral health issues, like manic depressive disorder, those kind of issues are not being addressed. So when people go to drug rehab, they’re looking at the substance, they’re looking at the addiction, they’re not looking at the underlying causes.” 

State Sen. Paul Formica, R-East Lyme, said he supports a coordinated effort to raise awareness of the issue that affects both cities and towns.

“We have, I think, as a legislature, to talk about ways that we can control distribution and coordination within the health care system," he said. "But as a community we got to get together and speak to the schools and speak to each other and speak to businesses.”

During the discussion, officials highlighted the work of a recently formed regional task force of police chiefs. They said the region also needs coordination to ensure that people can enter treatment programs right away to begin recovery, as well as increased education and awareness.

Ledyard Mayor Michael Finkelstein, co-chairman of the legislative committee and a retired lieutenant of the Ledyard Police Department, shared that a recent survey in Ledyard found teenagers identified drugs, like cocaine and heroin, as dangerous.

But the high-schoolers did not consider pills as being harmful, as they grew up with access to pills, whether over-the-counter medicines or prescriptions.

He said these results would likely mirror those from other communities in the region.

State Rep. Mike France, R-Ledyard, said it's important to look into the "root cause" of why people start using the drug or take the first pill, a reason that may depend on demographics.

He said without this understanding, "we're treating symptoms of a problem we don't understand."

Finkelstein said, in his experience, that the most common thread is the "over-prescription of pain medicine," but every person has a different story of why he or she started. 

He said the issue requires a "360 discussion" in which all parts of the community acknowledge the problem and work toward solutions.

State Rep. Aundre Bumgardner, R-Groton, agreed that it's a "multi-faceted issue," and pointed out that it "coincides with a timeline when we're still technically in recession."

"If you look all across the United States where there's a significant level of abuse of heroin, it's in areas that are still facing some significant economic decline," he said.

"I think it's our job as we move forward to really tie in all these issues and really prioritize these people, because these people I think still have a bright future in the state," he added.

k.drelich@theday.com

Twitter: @KimberlyDrelich