ROCKINGHAM – In North Carolina alone, three people die every single day from opioid overdose. National, state and local officials have recognized that the time for action is now.
The newly formed Richmond County Drug Endangered Family Taskforce recently met and developed a mission statement to guide them in their effort to make a difference.
“The mission of the Richmond County Drug Endangered Family Taskforce is to prevent prescription and illegal drug overdose,” explained Theressa Smith, Richmond County Department of Social Services. “The Taskforce will form partnerships, raise awareness and educate the community on this public issue in hopes of reducing overdoses and increasing access to treatment.”
During its initial meeting, the Taskforce decided to discuss on three of the seven focus areas outlined in the North Carolina Opioid Plan. Key focus areas will be to reduce oversupply of prescription opioids, increase community awareness and prevention and measure the impact and revise strategies based on results.
The complete list of focus areas as outlined in North Carolina’s Opioid Action Plan 2017-2021 is as follows:
1. Create a coordinated infrastructure;
2. Reduce oversupply of prescription opioids;
3. Reduce diversion of prescription drugs and flow of illicit drugs;
4. Increase community awareness and prevention;
5. Make naloxone widely available and link overdose survivors to care;
6. Expand treatment and recovery oriented systems of care, and
7. Measure our impact and revise strategies based on results
Figure one, taken from North Carolina Center for Health Statistics, shows the recent steep rise in unintentional deaths from opioid overdoses. While the use of opioids and deaths associated with that use has been climbing since 1999, there has been a dramatic increase in the last few years.
According to data from the North Carolina State Center for Health Statistics, opioid deaths have doubled in the in the last three years, increasing from about 600 deaths per year in 2013, to 1200 deaths per year in 2016.
Use of heroin and other synthetic narcotics is also increasing rapidly. These drugs are now involved in over 50 percent of opioid deaths, and are responsible for the sharp increase in unintentional opioid deaths in the last three years (see figure below).
Further alarming statistics indicate that the drug problem in North Carolina is having a devastating impact on unborn children who have no choice at all in the decision to take drugs. Babies are being subjected to opioids at a staggering rate. According to figure three, in 2004, there were 125 babies hospitalized with drug withdrawals, while in 2015, the rate for North Carolina skyrocketed to 1,252 newborns that faced drug withdrawals (see figure below).
The Drug Endangered Family Task Force, made up of people from the Department of Social Services, the Richmond County Health Department, Sandhill’s Center, private providers, law enforcement, emergency medical services, Samaritans Colony and others from the community, has its sights set on making an impact on this growing crisis in our community.
The Taskforce’s next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2018, at 2 p.m. The meeting will be held at Richmond County Department of Health & Human Services located at 125 Caroline Street in Rockingham.
