Officials push heroin fight at Neumann seminar
ASTON » Two best friends, 14-yearolds, were spending the night together at a sleepover when they took a pill or two of opioids.
“They think that’s all it is,” Delaware County Councilman Dave White said, “and they never wake up. The parents come into the room and they find both of them. Just because it was a simple sleepover, 14 years old – that’s the problem we are facing.”
White, who also serves on the county’s Heroin Task Force, was among the speakers at Neumann University’s Center for Leadership Opioid Safety Education seminar Thursday to give an update on the opioid situation in Delaware County. The statistics were sobering. In 2012, there were 52 drug overdose deaths in Delaware County, White said. Last year, there were 220.
“Right now, drug deaths account for more than vehicle deaths and homicides in the state of Pennsylvania,” White said. “That’s a staggering statistic and it is growing.”
White spoke of the Narcotics Overdose Prevention and Education program, which was started by a mother whose daughter died from an overdose. The NOPE program provides presentations to elementary and high school students to explain exactly what opioids and fentanyl will do.
Delaware County District Attorney Jack Whelan, who has been instrumental in combatting the opioid problem here, underscored that education is key.
“We are remaining optimistic that through the efforts of education in our schools, I believe that if we have the opportunity to address it with the students, ... the children will recognize the fact of how dangerous heroin, fentanyl and even opioid medication has become,” he said.
White also spoke of how county officials gathered realtors to inform them how a popular method of obtaining these drugs was through open houses and they were told to inform clients to lock up their prescriptions.
He spoke of naloxone and how it can reverse an overdose and Narcan, which can be administered nasally.
White said Delaware County is the first to have Narcan available in every police car, following legislation that gave police officers permission to give it rather than wait for EMS personnel.
“Allowing the police officer to administer this life-saving drug, we have saved almost 700 lives since 2014,” White said.
He spoke of the Certified Recovery Specialist program initiated in 2014 with two specialists who would go to emergency rooms at the report of an overdose to try to get the addicts on a road to recovery from that point. The county now has three specialists and more than 1,000 people have received assistance since the program inception.
While outlining the bills associated with addressing this problem, state Sen. Tom Killion, R-9, of Middletown, explained the allure of these types of drugs.
“More and more we see that most of the folks addicted to heroin are addicted to heroin because they’re looking for a cheaper alternative to prescription drugs that they first became addicted to,” he said.
The senator spoke of developments in Harrisburg, including the budget that included $50 million for Centers of Excellence and added he expects that level to continue.
“We are all committed as difficult as this budget is to putting more money in the budget this year to help address this issue,” he said.
The senator outlined what needs to happen to eradicate this epidemic.
“We have a long, long way to go with this problem,” Killion said. “It’s not going to be solved overnight. It starts with educating our young children in grade school about prescription drugs, ... working with our doctors to understand that overprescription of opioids leads to drug addiction and heroin addiction. But, we all need to work together as a community.”