Inconsistent data and outmoded record-keeping methods posed a major barrier to studying the addiction problem on Martha’s Vineyard.

A broad committee joined forces for a community forum Monday evening, determined to shape a more effective strategy to combat heroin addiction on Martha’s Vineyard.

A variety of stakeholders will present a community forum next week aimed at taking a regional approach to the heroin addiction problem on the Island.

A large crowd gathered at the Oak Bluffs School Friday that focused on heroin addiction. The organizer was Billy Pfaff, founder of the Facebook group Heroin Is Killing My Town.

Several Islanders credit the medication known by the brand name Suboxone for successful, extended recovery from opiate addiction.

Accurate statistics on the heroin epidemic are difficult to gather, but one thing is clear. The overdose-reversing drug naloxone, often known by the brand name Narcan, is saving lives.