The three Plymouth deaths bring to 15 the number of people who have died of suspected drug overdoses in town in 2019.

Police reported 12 overdose deaths locally in 2018.^[2]

“It took time for me to become a believer in this epidemic,” Police Chief Botieri said.

Now, nearly everyone believes.

Plymouth’s per-capita overdose rate is significantly higher than hard-hit Worcester’s, a city three times its size that saw a 59 percent rise in overdoses from 2014 to 2015.

While the numbers grow, so has Plymouth’s response.

A task force has been formed, a new squad of plainclothes police has made more than 200 drug arrests in the first half of 2014, and the local hospital is making drug-abuse prevention and treatment a critical priority.

“There is no solution to this unless everybody works together,” stated Fire Chief Bradley said.

“Don’t be afraid.

Don’t hide.

Jump up and down and scream.”^[4]

Plymouth counted 15 drug-related deaths in 2014 and 313 overdoses, a total 50 percent greater than Taunton’s, a city of similar size that once had been considered the face of the drug epidemic.