State lawmaker: ‘A lot of us don’t know what to do’

Three years into drug ‘disaster’ declaration, state’s 5,144 overdose deaths are third-highest total in nation

HARRISBURG — Thirty-eight months after Gov. Tom Wolf declared the opioid crisis a statewide disaster — an edict that has remained in effect throughout the COVID-19 pandemic — Pennsylvania has the third-highest total of drug deaths in the nation.

Asked about Pennsylvania’s standing in provisional federal data, state Rep. Mike Schlossberg, a Lehigh County Democrat, was at a loss to explain what government should do next.

“The ugly truth is, I suspect, a lot of us don’t know what to do because we have never dealt with two disasters of this magnitude,” he said.

The data on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website, described as “predictive” because it is adjusted to compensate for incompleteness, puts the overdose toll in Pennsylvania for the 12 months ending July 2020 at 5,144.

California ranks first with 8,007 deaths and Florida is second, with 7,098.

In terms of deaths per 100,000 population, Pennsylvania ranks sixth and West Virginia is first.

A spokesperson for Wolf, Lyndsay Kensinger, said it would be inaccurate to say Pennsylvania is doing “poorly” compared with other states. She said the CDC data shows there was a 24% increase in overdose deaths nationwide, but Pennsylvania’s increase was only 18%.

Some Republican lawmakers,

however, questioned Wolf ’s long-running disaster declaration.

“Emergency declarations ought to be truncated into the arena of natural disasters. Hurricanes, tornadoes, storms,” Berks County Rep. Mark Gillen said. “When they go on for years, they seem to be demonstrative of the fact that we don’t have an answer.”

Newly elected Republican Rep. Tim Twardzik, who represents part of hard-hit Schuylkill County, said the data is disheartening.

“Even with the three-year emergency declaration on opioids, the resources were not provided to effectively battle the crisis,” Twardzik said.

Coroners in the Lehigh Valley recorded big increases in overdose deaths in the first six months of 2020. In the eight-county region — Lehigh, Northampton, Berks, Bucks, Montgomery, Schuylkill, Monroe and Carbon — there were 553 deaths, an increase of 19% from 463 in the same period one year earlier.

Opioid disaster

Wolf, a Democrat, issued what he called a “firstof-its-kind” disaster declaration for the opioid crisis Jan. 10, 2018.

The declaration lasted for 90 days and Wolf has signed 13 renewals of the declaration since then.

Frustrated by Wolf ’s handling of power under the other disaster — the COVID-19 pandemic — the Republican-led General Assembly passed measures that will put two ballot questions before voters in May on whether the governor’s emergency declaration powers should be limited.

A centerpiece of Wolf ’s drug disaster approach is an “opioid command center” that operates at the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency.

“By signing the opioid disaster declaration and creating the opioid command center, the administration has broken silos and provided unprecedented collaboration between state agencies focusing specifically on declining overdose deaths,” Kensinger said.

She noted drug deaths in the state declined after hitting a peak of 5,456 in 2017.

But the COVID-19 pandemic and its accompanying isolation, a seemingly unending flow of deadly fentanyl on the streets, and a surge in methamphetamine use have sent overdose numbers soaring.

Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs Secretary Jennifer Smith has said 2020 could end up being the worst year yet of the drug crisis.

‘What happened?’

Bucks County Democratic Rep. Tina Davis said she thinks the state may be putting too much emphasis on medication-assisted treatment.

For years, friction has existed in the drug abuse treatment industry between providers who use a “drug free” approach to treatment, and those who have people in recovery take medications like methadone, buprenorphine or naltrexone.

“I don’t know what the approach should be, but I don’t think it should be having access to [medication-assisted treatment] for something like 10 years,” said Davis, who stressed that she was not a parent and could not suggest to parents what was best for their children.

Republican Rep. Jack Rader of Monroe County said Wolf did the right thing with his original disaster declaration, but it was legitimate to ask whether it should continue.

“What happened?” he asked. “Why do you need the declaration of emergency if nothing seems to change?”