Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan speaks about the current state of the opioid crisis on Sept. 14 in Tyngsborough, Mass. Telegraph photo by Christopher Roberson

TYNGSBOROUGH, Mass. — For the first time in more than a decade, the number of fatal overdoses in the Bay State is starting to come down.

During the town’s inaugural Overdose Awareness Vigil on Sept. 14, Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said that since January, the number of fatal overdoses has decreased by 25 percent.

“That is a significant change,” she said.

Yet, Ryan has not forgotten the past. Although OxyContin had been a problem since the mid-1990s, she said the number of opioid-related deaths in Massachusetts began to spike at the end of 2011. At the time, heroin was the drug of choice.

“It struck first up here, in the Lowell, Merrimack Valley area,” said Ryan.

In response, Ryan and her colleagues insisted that the epidemic be treated as a public health problem rather than a criminal matter.

“We needed to learn from the people who were struggling,” she said.

However, Ryan said the first three years were “very discouraging.” The number of fatalities continued to grow regardless of the millions of dollars being used to fund this titanic fight.

In 2013, the number of fatalities spiked again as heroin was being laced with a new synthetic opioid called fentanyl. According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, fentanyl is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. Just two milligrams of fentanyl is enough to be deadly.

In March 2014, Massachusetts became the first state in the nation to declare the epidemic a public health emergency. The following year, Narcan, a nasal spray designed to reverse an overdose, became available. During the past nine years, countless lives have been saved because of Narcan and the continued funding for rehabilitation services.

“As difficult as it is, recovery is possible,” said Ryan.

Looking ahead, she said the new challenge is to tackle the number of suicides that are happening as a result of overdoses. Ryan said this is primarily affecting individuals who are under 18, adding that intentional overdoses are the third leading cause of death of children right now.

Also during the vigil, Tyngsborough resident Mandra Biscornet shared the story of her younger brother, Patrick Riley.

She said Riley began using alcohol and marijuana while he was a student at Westford Academy. However, other than being scolded by his parents, no one thought much of it.

“The overall assumption was this was just boys being boys,” said Biscornet.

After graduating high school in 2000, the situation continued to worsen as Riley started using cocaine in college. In addition, Biscornet said her brother’s drinking caused him to be arrested for driving under the influence and he was required to have a breathalyzer in his truck. It was also around that time when Riley joined Alcoholics Anonymous.

“AA became a great resource for Patrick,” said Biscornet. “He desperately wanted to stay a part of the family.”

In 2010, Riley checked into a long-term rehabilitation facility in Florida and knew he had to stay there in order to beat the addiction.

When he came home, Riley appeared to have a new outlook on life. He coached his kids’ soccer teams and went on to become a commercial electrician for Monument Construction in Hudson, N.H.

By November 2016, Riley made a frantic phone call to Biscornet and his other sister begging them to pick him up at his house.

“He felt worthless,” said Biscornet, adding that Riley genuinely wanted to stop using drugs and alcohol, but believed that he was unable to do so.

His sisters took him to a long-term rehabilitation facility in Laconia, N.H., where he stayed for the following three months.

Biscornet said things seemed to be much improved after her brother left Laconia, adding that their family even traveled to Disney World in 2018. However, it only seemed that way.

Riley died of a fentanyl overdose on the evening of July 29, 2019. He was 37 years old.

“He died without any family members there,” said Biscornet. “My family was changed forever that night.”