Putting a halt to opiate addiction requires a team effort
In 2016, 336 people in Rhode Island lost their lives to overdose and more than 50 percent involved the illicit drug, fentanyl. Rhode Island has lost far too many precious lives to opiate overdose, and many fear it will get worse before it gets better.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, 44 people die every day in the United States from overdose to prescription pain killers. The National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NHSDUH) data reports that 4.3 million Americans engage in non- medical use of prescription painkillers in the last month; 1.9 million Americans met the criteria for prescription painkillers use disorder; 1.4 million people used prescription painkillers non- medically for the first time in the past year; and the average age for prescription painkiller first- time use was 21.2 in the past year.
Heroin is also a powerful opiate. Also according to NHSDUH data, many people who inject heroin report misuse of prescription opioids before starting to use heroin; 4.8 million people report using heroin at some point in their lives; of those between the age of 12- 49, the average firsttime use was 28; 212,000 people aged 12 or older used heroin within the past month.
Locally, according to the R. I. Department of Health data, Woonsocket has one of the highest rates of overdose deaths in the state.
Fortunately, Woonsocket has an incredible group of dedicated individuals and organizations that have been working together to inform, educate and provide services to members of our community on the issue of substance abuse and addiction, including heroin and opiates, for the past 30- plus years through the Woonsocket Prevention Coalition, funded in part through the Department of Behavioral Healthcare, Developmental Disabilities and Hospitals. Most recently, we’ve partnered with the newly formed Health Equity Zone ( HEZ) to deal with the opioid crisis that is enveloping our community and nation. Our partnership has led us to the next effort in combating overdose deaths with the development of a Municipal Overdose Response Plan. The state’s Overdose Action Plan presents four strategies: Prevention, Treatment, Rescue and Recovery. This action plan will guide the development of the Municipal Overdose Response Plan.
Each municipality has been given an opportunity to develop this plan, with the incentive of receiving $ 5,000 once the plan has been approved, to use towards overdose prevention and intervention. At the table to develop this plan are the many community partners representing prevention, treatment, recovery, healthcare, education and human services, to name a few, as well as the City of Woonsocket, represented by its strong Police Department, Fire and EMS.
Woonsocket’s current efforts through local community agencies, as well as the HEZ partnership, has given us a jump start to this process. Local community- based strategies to address overdose include, but are not limited to, community education; information dissemination through forums; school- community partnerships providing assemblies; physician education; Naloxone distribution to save lives; increased availability of Medication Assisted Treatment through local treatment providers and the Center For Excellence through Community Care Alliance; the opening of the Serenity Center, which offers sup- port for those in recovery and their families; and continued partnerships with the Woonsocket Police Department, Fire Department and EMS, to name a few.
Our collective efforts in Woonsocket throughout the years have increasingly prepared our community to develop and implement a strong plan to further prevent the opioid epidemic from continuing. And, collectively, we look forward to presenting our Municipal Overdose Response Plan in the future as we seek to protect the community, prevent substance abuse and overdose, increased availability and treatment for those individuals in need, support those in recovery and save lives. Feel free to become involved in this community effort, at ( 401) 301- 2894.