Active Issues
RICARES hopes to have a page in the future with all active issues at a local level and a national level that need to be acted on. We are working towards that. In the meantime check our advocacy page for local agencies working on issues that matter to us. Faces &...
An Interfaith Memorial Service
An interfaith memorial service for the 1,250 Rhode Islanders who have died of opioid overdose in the last five years was held Thursday at the First Baptist Church in America in Providence. An interfaith memorial service for the 1,250 Rhode Islanders who have died of...
RICARES Report to the Community Part I
RICARES Report to the Community: The Opioid Accidental Overdose Death Epidemic This report responds to the questions: How did we get here? What is being done now? What can be done? RICARES spent time in the community with folks directly affected by addiction...
Sarah J. Fessler: Making progress in fight against R.I. opioid addiction
There is good news in the campaign to reduce opioid deaths in Rhode Island. Newly released data show the Ocean State is at the top in New England and second best in the nation in reducing the number of opioid prescriptions filled within the past three years. Rhode...
The recovery community wants its voice to be heard
PROVIDENCE - Monica Smith, the new executive director at RICARES, the Rhode Island Communities for Addiction Recovery Efforts, newly arrived from Oregon, admits that she is still learning how best to navigate her way around the policy labyrinths of Rhode Island – and...
Pod Cast: Recovery’s Many Roads
Rhode Island Communities For Addiction Recovery Efforts (RICARES) is a grassroots alliance of individuals in recovery from substance use disorder. Monica Smith, Executive Director, and Steve Gumbley, Board Member, discuss how the organization’s approach includes many...
The RI Recovery Community Speaks Out: 7/1/2015
Thank you Representative Perry and all of the recovery community who came together to make sure the Good Samaritan Act was reinstated. § 9-1-27.1 Good Samaritan – Immunity from liability. No person who voluntarily and gratuitously renders emergency assistance to a...
DIE-In at the State House January 2015
Members of the Rhode Island Recovery Community came together on a cold January afternoon to provide a visual expression of our overdose epidemic in the State to members of the legislature. The hope of this demonstration was both to insure that the Good Samaritan Bill...
R.I. Enacts “Ban-the-Box” Law
R.I. Enacts “Ban-the-Box” Law, Limiting Employer Inquiries into Applicants’ Criminal Histories Effective January 1, 2014, a new law in Rhode Island will ban employers from inquiring on job applications about the criminal histories of applicants. Under the new...
Investigation Into Opioid Crisis Targets Drug Companies
Sen Claire McCaskill (D, Missouri) has launched a Senate investigation into whether 5 drug companies marketed their opioid painkillers in a manner that may have contributed to the nation’s opioid epidemic. In letters to the companies, which include Mylan, Depomed,...
RICARES Report to the Community Part II
RICARES Report to the Community Part IIIn June of 2017 RICARES issued our initial report to the community. We gave an overview of the events leading, and actions taken, to address the accidental opioid overdose death epidemic in our state. This second report will list...