SAUGUS — The Saugus-Everett Elks Drug Awareness Committee held its annual Narcan presentation earlier this week at the senior center, hearing about stories of recovery and diving into the importance of the opioid antagonist and how to use it properly.

Eric Mazzeo, assistant director of youth substance use prevention for the city of Everett, said he was a person in recovery and had a little more than seven years of not taking any mind or mood altering substances.

“I grew up in the city of Everett. I played football in high school. But, early on, I was a troubled kid, and I would hold things in on the inside. I wouldn’t talk about things … And I would act out because I wanted you to like me. I wanted people to like me,” Mazzeo said.

Drugs and alcohol made Mazzeo feel like he could breathe and feel normal around people, he said.

“I was content with living like that, and I thought that was how I was going to die. And not only did I think that’s how I was going to die, but there was a point where I wanted to,” he said, adding that it was a vicious cycle of being in and out of jail and rehab.

It was when Mazzeo began to look inward and work on his feelings, insecurities, and fears that he found comfort and peace.

“Now I go into the schools, and for a little over two years now I’ve been with the city of Everett, and I’m very lucky … I meet with the kids one-on-one, sometimes two, or three, in groups, and I have a curriculum that I do with them … I do assemblies with them,” he said, continuing that sometimes he just goes to sit with them at lunch or hang out at recess.

Mazzeo said that he tells youths that it’s OK to talk about their feelings and fears.

He also spoke about the importance of not being judgmental toward those struggling with substance abuse, especially family members.

“I can guarantee you that that person probably doesn’t want to be doing that, and they’re probably scared. And they don’t want to go to you, and they don’t want to talk about it. You have these fears of people judging you … I think the stigma around drugs and alcohol has definitely come a long way,” Mazzeo said.

The next speaker was Paul Guarino, the chairman of Roadmap to Recovery, who works out of the Everett Fire Department.

“I, too, am a person in long-term recovery. I just celebrated 13 years last week,” he said.

Guarino said that when he was struggling, he didn’t ask for help, keeping it hidden like Mazzeo, and that you never know what is going on in people’s minds.

During Guarino’s time as a pharmacist, he began experiencing foot pain and figured he didn’t need a doctor’s help because he had what he needed. Guarino began taking pain medication.

“And knowing that I could get caught, but I didn’t think that because I thought I was invincible,” he said, adding that he began to build a tolerance and needed more and more opioids.

In 2012, after three years, Guarino was caught, something he was thankful for.

He began working with Everett in 2017, and at that time, an uptick in overdoses was occurring, which is when he was hired to help.

“I can tell you a little data that came out in the state a few weeks ago. I remember in about 2024, there were almost 2,400 fatal overdoses in the state of Massachusetts. And this past year, for 2025 … there were 970 fatal overdoses,” Guarino said, saying that the availability of Narcan and the work being done has helped bring the number down.

Guarino said that opioids, which cause most overdoses, can be stopped by Narcan.

He continued that there were four main signs of an overdose: a person no longer breathing, they are nonresponsive, a possible color change in fingertips or lips, and sometimes pinpoint pupils.

“Narcan is an opioid antagonist. So, as I told you, when people take all those opioids, they overpopulate the brain, the central nervous system. When there are too many opioids on those receptors, that’s when the person stops breathing. What Narcan does … it knocks off all those opioids from the receptors,” he said, adding that you can give another dose every two to three minutes if the person still doesn’t respond.

He then demonstrated how to use Narcan, showing how to peel it out of the container, place it in the nose, and push the plunger.