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(JUNE 14, 2023) Vermont Health Commissioner Mark Levine, M.D., professor of medicine and associate dean for graduate medical education; Daniel Wolfson, M.D., FACEP, associate professor of emergency medicine; and Heidi Melbostad, Ph.D., MFT, research assistant professor of psychiatry, spoke to Seven Days about the state’s efforts to address opioid addiction.

Just a few years ago, it appeared Vermont was making tangible progress, thanks to its renowned “hub-and-spoke” drug treatment system designed to integrate addiction treatment into the normal medical system. But between 2020 and 2022, more people died from fatal opioid overdoses — 614 — than in the previous six years combined. The deepening crisis, exacerbated by the pandemic, is the result of a deadlier drug supply as well as other factors, including a shortage of affordable housing and a lack of places where people can go to detox and regain stability.