As the Vineyard begins to take stock of its own rise in opioid abuse, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker this week signed into law a bill he called the most comprehensive measure in the country to combat addiction. The law mandates new ways to treat addicts, educate people about the risks, and prevent people from getting hooked.

Starting in July, the new law will require doctors to prescribe not more than a seven-day supply of prescription opioids such as Oxycontin, Vicodin and Percocet for treatment of pain. There are exceptions for people suffering with chronic pain. The governor wanted a three-day limit, but said he was happy to accept the compromise that emerged from the state legislature.

Among other mandates of the new law, doctors will be required to check the state’s prescription monitoring program to determine if a patient has been prescribed opioid pain medication by another doctor.

The legislation is a positive step forward in overall efforts to curb the spiraling issue of opioid addiction, including heroin use, say those who deal with the issue daily on Martha’s Vineyard.

Medical studies show that four out of five heroin users first became addicted to opiates by abusing prescription pain medication. The Massachusetts Department of Health estimated that four people die of heroin or prescription opioids every day across the state.

Dr. Charles Silberstein, a psychiatrist who treats addiction on the Island, estimates that about 10 to 12 Island residents have died of overdoses annually for the past several years, though the number is hard to verify because the cause is not always reported.

Hazel Teagan, a substance abuse counselor who advises patients from the Martha’s Vineyard Hospital, believes that rate may be rising. Hospital officials reported last week that the emergency room treats an average of about one person per week for opioid overdose.

Ms. Teagan is hopeful that another provision of the law will get more addicts into treatment. Mr. Baker wanted to mandate that doctors hold an addicted patient for up to three days of treatment, a measure designed to break the cycle of overdose and a quick return to heroin abuse. Although that measure did not make it into the final bill, legislators did require doctors to evaluate the patient for substance abuse at the hospital. Previously, patients could refuse an evaluation which could include a referral for treatment, and information about recovery.

“Say you get someone who overdoses three times,” Ms. Teagan said. “They’ve got be evaluated each time. They can’t say no anymore.”

Ms. Teagan and her colleague Dianne Mackellar are often on the front line when addicts are in crisis and medical detoxification is needed urgently and immediately, and she decried the lack of a detox facility on the Island.

“There have been a ton of studies done and they say our numbers don’t meet the state requirements to have a detox,” she said, adding, “There are a lot of us that don’t feel that’s true.”

The substance abuse counselors must arrange detox treatment off-Island, usually at treatment facilities like Gosnold on Cape Cod and AdCare Hospital in Worcester.

Sometimes, addicts are reluctant to go off-Island for treatment; sometimes those facilities are full.

“Usually on weekends, its harder to get a bed,” Ms. Teagan said. “When someone comes to us and asks for help, and you can’t give them help, are they coming back? Are they going to overdose and die? That’s what you worry about. It does break your heart.”

Despite the lack of an on-Island detox facility, there are a number of services and programs for residents who need help staying clean. The anchor of those programs is New Paths, an intensive outpatient counseling program managed by Martha’s Vineyard Community Services.

“It’s very unrealistic that someone can go through detox and be cured,” said New Paths program director Janet Constantino. She said Community Services is committed to getting people into counseling quickly. “If you call on a Monday, you will be seen that week,” Ms. Constantino said. “If someone has made a decision to say I’m ready, you have to act on that. You can’t give them an appointment in a month.”

Addicts must attend long and intense group and individual therapy sessions at least three days a week to learn coping skills needed for dealing with addiction. Sometimes people complete the program but relapse after a period of sobriety.

“We know addiction is a relentless disease, and relapse is always an issue,” Ms. Constantino said. “When people return to New Paths, I’m not surprised. I’m just glad they know they can come back. No questions asked, we welcome people.”

Community Services offers other programs including a new group session called Ripple, for people related or close to addicts. Often families are completely disrupted by a loved one struggling with addiction.

“We were seeing a lot of partners of people in New Paths who were coming in for individual therapy,” Ms. Constantino said. “We thought there was a real need to have a group just for these individuals.

Also available is Pathfinders, a new program that reflects a trend of people becoming addicted to drugs earlier in life. Pathfinders provides counseling and coping skills for people under the age of 18.

Community Services is also launching a new program of one-on-one support for recovering addicts. Each person works with a recovery coach, trained to help addicts learn the skills needed to get back to a normal life without using drugs. The Community Services programs are able to serve those who want to participate, there are no significant waiting lists, according to Community Services executive director Juliette Fay.

Some people find a need to stay away from the circumstances that triggered their addictions for a longer period of time. For that there is Vineyard House, a sober living community located in Vineyard Haven. The facility has 17 beds for men and seven beds for woman in apartment style living. Vineyard House provides a safe place to live for up to 18 months, helping people establish routines for sobriety.

Medical providers and clinicians on the Island often cite two main barriers to recovery. The first is the perception that drug users choose to be addicts and should be treated like criminals, rather than people with a severe illness.

“There’s still a huge stigma around addiction,” Ms. Constantino said. “That’s a barrier, even though we’re trying to break that down.”

The other barrier rests with the addicts themselves. Ms. Constantino said sometimes she sees people who are mandated as part of a court sentence to enter the program.

“It’s very obvious when I sit with them, they want to continue using. They’re not ready to stop,” she said. “For a lot of people, they have to make a decision that they want to be clean, they want treatment.”

Monday at the State House, Governor Baker was emotional when recounting stories of families ripped apart by heroin addiction.

“Today, the commonwealth stands in solidarity to fight the opioid and heroin epidemic that continues to plague our state and burden countless families and individuals,” he said.