The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
Police fight heroin, opioid epidemic
With the heroin epidemic sweeping the nation on the minds of many, the Madison County Opioid Task Force recently released an overview of the county’s efforts to combat the blight.
Statistics taken over the span of several years show that since 2008, 48 people have lost their lives in the county due to heroin or opioid pain reliever overdose.
Overdose deaths per year in Madison County:
• 2016 (heroin) - 3
• 2016 (opioid pain relievers) - 3
• 2015 (heroin) - 2
• 2015 (opioid pain relievers) - 7
• 2014 (heroin) - 1
• 2014 (opioid pain relievers) - 4
• 2013 (heroin) - 1
• 2013 (opioid pain relievers) - 3
• 2012 (heroin) - 1
• 2012 (opioid pain relievers) - 5
• 2011(heroin) - 1
• 2011 (opioid pain relievers) - 3
• 2010 (heroin) - 2
• 2010 (opioid pain relievers) - 3
In addition to those figures, another study analyzed the demographics of the 33 Madison County overdose victims between 2008-2014.
Of those 33 deaths, heroin overdose accounts for eight deaths in comparison to the seemingly more widespread opioid pain reliever fatality figure of 27.
The gender split reveals females account for 45 percent of overdoses with males constituting 55 percent.
The 25-34 age group represented the highest percentage of overdoses for both heroin and opioid pain relievers with a 30 percent rate, according to the Madison County study, while the 35- 44 age range ranked second, accounting
for 21 percent of overdose deaths in the county between 2008 and 2014. Aside from age and gender, a key statistic from the study was the education level of those who overdosed. Those without high school diplomas account for 10 of the 32 deaths, and those with a high school diploma represented 16 deaths. In total, the two education levels constituted 78 percent of Madison County heroin or opioid pain reliever overdoses.
Other trends in the presentation investigated the number of opioid-related emergency department admission rates in Madison County compared to the rest of the state. In 2010, there were 95 opioid-related admissions per 100,000 people to emergency departments in Madison County. Throughout the state, that figure rose to 112.5 admissions per 100,000. Four years later in 2014, there were 212.4 admissions per 100,000 in the county while the rest of the state also saw admissions per 100,000 increase to 194.8. On the law enforcement side of the heroin epidemic, the Madison County Sheriff’s Office reports that heroin charges account for nearly 10 percent of all drug-related charges, while prescription opioids constituted roughly 4 percent. The sheriff’s office, through its correction’s division, also offers a Vivitrol program where an injectable medication that blocks the effects of opiates is used to encourage retention in post-release substance abuse plans. All jail supervisors are currently trained in the use of Narcan and plans are to provide training to all jail staff in the case of an inmate overdose. The jail also offers inmates chemical dependence programs and post-release substance abuse programs. There are also mandatory drug test for all jail intakes in order to identify potential pending issues to jail staff. All full-time members of the patrol and criminal investigation divisions are trained in the application of Narcan to overdose victims, and since Narcan was utilized by the department, there have been two uses, one use resulting in an overdose victim being saved. Furthermore, all new recruits are trained in the use of the life-saving Narcan. To combat the heroin plague, the county focuses on prevention, treatment, and recovery.
Prevention entails community meetings, workshops, conferences, public health detailing, press releases, pharmacy surveys, dispensing Narcan, safe pill collections, education, community groups, information, and reports.
Treatment options include:
• Family Counseling Services clinic in Oneida - Offers outpatient counseling and some medication assisted treatment including Vivitrol and just started Suboxone;
•Madison Mental Health Clinic - Can provide dual diagnosis work for mental health patients with addiction;
• Liberty Resources - Plans to expand residential services to include in-house treatment and recently opened a peer recovery center;
• Private practice physicians - locally, only one pri- vate physician prescribes medication for people suffering from addiction;
• Regional Crisis Center for Addictions (The CNY Director’s Planning Group) - proposed a project to the State Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse (OASAS) which would create a regional crisis addiction center;
• Part-time peer specialist - working with Oneida Hospital.
As far as recovery options go, the county presentation identified HEAL (Heroin Epidemic Action League) as a grassroots community group that connects those healing from addiction with N.A. meetings, and educational events.