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By Erin Smith
The Bladen County Opioid Task Force met on Thursday and set to work discussing how to tackle the problem of opioid addiction in the county. Those in attendance at the meeting divided into five discussion groups to look at various aspects of the problem.
Group discussions focused on:
* resource awareness/education/communication to community;
* gaps in resources and how to fill those gaps;
* data/information gathering and tracking and what information needs to be tracked;
* opioid education in the communities;
* and preventing opioid abuse and addiction.
Some of the ideas presented by the groups included education for seniors and parents regarding opioid safety, more drop boxes at law enforcement sites, and legislation to allow providers to share information among states.
It was noted when someone who is struggling with an addiction reaches out and asks for help, there should be no wait time for admission to a treatment facility.
“We need to be able to assist those individuals right then,” said Bladen County Commissioner Arthur Bullock.
Another area of concern is the communication between providers in other states. Rebecca Hester, owner of the Medicine Shoppe Pharmacy in Bladenboro, said currently there is no way for her to check for prescriptions a client may have in another state due to the current laws. It was suggested to look into legislation that would allow for the creation or access to a state-by-state database for providers and pharmacies.
Another suggestion was to have parents who have lost a child to addiction speak to groups and schools about signs and things to look for to determine if your child may be suffering from addiction. It also was suggested to have former users who are now sober speak to groups and schools and share their stories.
It was learned that with certain types of drug-related felonies, a person becomes ineligible to receive services such as Section 8 Housing. Those people may be getting out of prison and have no place to live. They also are ineligible for certain types of assistance because of their conviction, making it harder for them to obtain housing, necessary medicines, etc., said Vickie Smith, the director of Bladen County Department of Social Services.
Also discussed was which agencies keep track of data concerning opioid use and abuse statistics. The list was extensive, but included law enforcement, county coroner, providers, Community Care of North Carolina (CCNC), Eastpointe, health department, hospital, and more.
Other suggestions included:
* Better education for senior citizens about the consequences of selling their medicines, if they are caught.
* Educating the public and providers about the use of more holistic approaches to pain management such as acupuncture or Yoga.
* The creation of a drug court in the county.
* Create a “Community Paramedic” position who would be responsible for contacting and educating patients once they are at home about their medications and how to properly use them.
* Creating a letter that can be given to patients when their prescriptions are filled at the pharmacy warning about the dangers of opioids and what to do if they think they are becoming addicted.
* The creation of 24-hour local resources.
* Several discussion groups mentioned the fact there needs to be some type of contact list provided for the county’s first responders which can be given to a patient or the first responder can call for the patient to help begin the process of obtaining treatment.
Charles Ray Peterson, chairman of the Bladen County Commissioners, said the information from Thursday’s session will be compiled and used to create a plan.
Bladen County Health and Human Services Director David Howard said the community will review the data and begin moving forward with creating a plan which can be implemented in the county.
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