5 Investigates: The search for a prescription to fight heroin epidemic

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1 Page 1 of 5 5 Investigates: The search for a prescription to fight heroin epidemic More than 1,000 overdose deaths reported statewide last year UPDATED 6:49 PM EDT May 14, 2015 Worrying about whether your child will survive another day is the reality of heroin addiction for many parents, and 5 Investigates was given a rare look inside the struggle of families and communities and how they're learning to cope with the deadly epidemic. Images: Mass. towns hardest hit with overdose deaths Watch the report Liz Reilly leads a group of parents from all across the Cape through a lesson no parent ever wants to have to learn but it's a class that could save a life. She holds a dose of Narcan in her hand and shows parents of addicts how to administer the opioid overdose drug in case of an emergency. "Blue lips, blue fingertips, that's another sign of an overdose," Reilly told parents. She does the hands on training after her husband, Jack, moderates a Learn to Cope meeting aimed at helping families wade through the anxiety and fear of the rising tide of the heroin epidemic. Some have lost loved ones, others are struggling to keep their addicted children alive. "I don't have a realistic goal that I'm going to see my kid turn 30 at this point in my life, I don't see it. I want to but I don't," said the parent of an addict. "If he's taking drugs seven days a week, how lucky can he be and how long before that luck runs out?" The meeting takes place in a small room inside the Yarmouth Police Department headquarters. Chief Frank Frederickson said, "We provide some hope for the family to bring them into a smaller group of people who were in their place before who were struggling with a loved one who is addicted and don't know what to do." It's all part of the pro active community approach to battle the deadly epidemic that stretches from the beaches of Nantucket Sound to towns and cities across the state. In Yarmouth, cops' jobs go far beyond traditional policing. There's door to door outreach to the homes of people who have overdosed and every cruiser has Narcan on board. "We're losing a generation and it's hard to change them once they're addicted, so prevention and enforcement and rehab, we're trying to push people into that," said Deputy Chief Steve Xiarhos. For the Reillys, the mission is personal.

2 Page 2 of 5 Their daughter Rebecca is in recovery after becoming addicted to prescription pills in high school and turning to heroin. "All walks of life are affected from this. This is not a blue collar disease, this doesn't discriminate, these aren't bad kids. So I'm staring at my daughter who I love to pieces and I know that she's gonna end up on a path that's either jail or death or recovery," said Jack Reilly. Now his daughter brings her message about addiction to state leaders. She recently spoke at a roundtable discussion with Gov. Charlie Barker about addiction. Rebecca said she started with prescription opiates and it led to heroin very quickly. "I was completely miserable. My whole life revolved around heroin, everything that I did, everyone I talked to, it blocked me from the people that I love and I was doing terrible things to get heroin." Mass. towns hardest hit with overdose deaths 1 of 32 Here are the Massachusetts towns with the highest number of opioid deaths per capita. Data comes from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and the US Census.

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