It’s a sign the new problem of heroin and opiates is gaining a foothold in western Kentucky. They discussed ways for better treatment, the need for more law enforcement resources and the desire for an educational blitz targeting American Indian children as young as 8.
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The Coalition seeks to address the USA opioid epidemic by engaging policy makers, public health leaders, chronic pain and addiction specialists, individuals in and seeking recovery and family members, so that legislation and policies get the support and funding needed. “They’re either laying there with a needle and a spoon beside them or it’s on the vanity in the bathroom”. These numbers do not include arrests made by local and state law enforcement. “It started off small, but then it took off”. According to the DOJ, there have been 3,084 overdose deaths in North Carolina from 1999 to 2014, with more than 1,100 of those deaths happening between 2012-2014 alone.
The Community Treatment Program is the final stage of BOP’s Residential Drug Abuse Program, as the inmates completing their sentences transition through Residential Reentry Centers. “One overdose death is one too many”, New Mexico Health Secretary Designate Lynn Gallagher said.
“Heroin and Opioid Awareness Week is about raising awareness about existing treatment that can divert people from that path, and about preventing addiction in the first place”, he said. They consider that a potential culprit in these cases of overdose is the fentanyl, which is a pain reliever similar to morphine, the problem is that it might be 50 to 100 times stronger that morphine, as the National Institute explained it on Drug Abuse.
Heroin and opioid abuse have even stuck in the most remote parts of the country among American Indians.
“It certainly helps, the sharing of information, because one thing you see with drugs is it doesn’t confine itself to jurisdictional boundaries”, says Maj. The move came after the village of 700 residents saw four apparent heroin overdoses in one day.
For those who already are or will become addicted to pills, it is critical that we remove the stigma surrounding addiction so they will seek help and treatment before the high cost and difficulty of illegally obtaining prescription drugs drives them to the heroin market.
According to the Office of Emergency Management Services, in Buncombe County in 2015 there were over 350 administrations by law enforcement or emergency services personnel of naloxone, a medication that blocks the effects of opioids and reverses an overdose.
The funding Lynch announced Tuesday is $8.8 million from a federal grant program named for Kentucky Rep. Hal Rogers, who is chairman of the House Appropriations Committee.
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Federal authorities are using their influence to try to combat the epidemic of heroin and other opioid overdoses sweeping High Point and other parts of the nation.
