Seize opportunity to strike back at the opioid epidemic

The Twin Counties are struggling with two problems that are frustratingly resistant to solutions. One is the seemingly bottomless supply of heroin and other opioids flowing into the area. The second is the surging number of fatal overdoses taking a horrible toll in the area.

Now, Columbia and Greene counties are among 15 in the state to receive national funding to reduce opioid deaths by means of a study supported by the National Institutes of Health.

The goal of the long-term study is to reduce opioid-related deaths by 40% over three years. The $86 million grant was awarded to the Columbia University School of Social Work, which will work alongside the counties to reduce opioid use, increase medication-based treatment, increase treatment retention beyond six months, provide recovery services and expand the distribution of naloxone.

The facts motivating the funding and study deliver a shock to the system.

Since 2010, deaths resulting from opioid overdoses in Greene County have increased from 8.1 per 100,000 to 23.1 per 100,000 in 2017, according to the Columbia-Greene Addiction and Recovery Coalition. In 2016, the number of hospital emergency room visits for overdoses caused by heroin was 78.5 per 100,000. So far this year, Greene County has had about twice as many overdoses as Columbia County. There have been 30 suspected overdoses in Greene County and 16 in Columbia County as of July.

In late March, Columbia County Director of Human Services/Mental Health Center Michael Cole reported the American life span has decreased due to deaths from opiates, 68% of jail inmates have a substance abuse disorder and 78 U.S. citizens die each day from opiates. In addition, in 2016 there were 13 opioid-related deaths in Columbia County, but since 2010, there has been a threefold increase in U.S. heroin-related deaths.

To their credit, everyone who is or will be involved in this massive study, from elected officials to addiction counselors, are taking a strong interest in steering it to a single destination: A significant reduction in opioid use and opioid-related deaths. The enthusiasm has to match and overtake the growing number of overdose fatalities.

With $1.3 million in funding backing them up, the study participants have to provide thoughtful and necessary leadership on this crisis. Government, academic partners and counselors on the front lines of addiction have to work together to create effective interventions that will save lives.

They have the opportunity to take the fight against the opioid epidemic to another level by means of expertise, skills and talents. It’s an opportunity that has to be seized, or witness the opioid crisis produce new deaths and new tragedies.