New London — Opioid overdose deaths spiked in the state during the coronavirus pandemic last year, but local health professionals say the number of overdoses locally has fluctuated, a spike one week followed by relative calm the next.

So while the state’s 14% increase in fatalities is likely to be related to pandemic isolation and stress, the clusters may be connected to disruptions in the supply chain and uncertainty of content of drugs being consumed.

“People are not getting what they think they’re getting,” said Carol Jones, director of harm reduction at Alliance for Living. “One of our real, real big problems is we do not have a safe supply of drugs, we need a way to test drugs. I’d love to see us have safer injection sites.”

Jones was among a group of community-based addiction prevention specialists and city officials, including Human Services Director Jeanne Milstein, who gathered for a meeting with U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal at City Hall on Friday.

Blumenthal said he would seek federal dollars to help sustain successful local initiatives, such as the city’s peer navigator program, in which individuals with lived experiences are working to reach out and develop trusting relationships with people in the community with substance abuse disorder.

Jennifer Muggeo, special projects supervisor with Ledge Light Health District, helped develop the peer navigator program and obtain the initial funding to make it possible. The program recently was adopted for a state pilot program, and Blumenthal said Friday he thinks it could be a national model.

Muggeo said communities also need to assess the overall health of the community in order to fix the root causes of substance abuse disorder and invest in child care, pre-k programs, housing and transportation.

“When we invest in making healthier communities, and making it easier for people to take care of their kids and put food on the table and have a safe place to live, we’re addressing substance abuse disorder,” Muggeo said.

She also advocated for policy changes to allow for resources like access to supplies of methadone from a pharmacy, “instead of trying to find a job that allows you to go stand in line for three hours (at a methadone clinic) every morning and be stared at and stigmatized by community members that don’t want you in their neighborhood.”

There will be more discussion about local efforts to combat the opioid crisis on Tuesday during a special event at the Garde Arts Center, part of International Overdose Awareness Day. The event, “an evening of poetry, art and discussion,” happens from 7 to 8:30 p.m. and will feature New London poet Carol Jones, New London Poet Laureate Josh Brown and Pastor Jack Madry, along with nationally acclaimed writer David Poses and NLC CARES Clinician Catherine Hinojosa.

The event is sponsored by the Overdose Action Team of Southeastern Connecticut and the New London County CARES Project, in partnership with Ledge Light Health District, Alliance for Living and the city of New London. For more information or to RSVP, email awade@llhd.org or text (860) 912-1429.

g.smith@theday.com