ADDRESSING THE TWOFOLD EPIDEMIC OF RX PAINKILLER AND HEROIN ABUSE
Reducing Supply + Reducing Demand = Saving Lives
Someone in the U.S. dies of a drug overdose every 20 minutes – and the clock is still ticking. Prescription painkiller and heroin abuse, further compounded by a recent influx of illegal fentanyl, has created a public health crisis throughout our community.
In the late 1990’s, pharmaceutical companies reassured the medical community that patients would not become addicted to opioid pain relievers and healthcare providers began to prescribe them at greater use. The increased prescription of opioid medications led to widespread misuse of both prescription and non-prescription opioids before it became clear that these medications could indeed be highly addictive. In 2017, HHS declared a Public Health Emergency and announced a 5-Point Strategy to Combat the Opioid Crisis. Under the parameters of being declared a public health emergency, the Secretary of Health and Human Services is given nearly free-reign to implement changes, budget adjustments, and other aid-geared programs to help alleviate the crisis.
- Since 1999, the number of overdose deaths from opioids (including heroin) has increased by 300%
- The age group with the highest rate of prescription opioid overdose deaths from 1999-2014 was 25-54
- There were more than 200 million opioid prescriptions written in 2012
- More than three-quarters of heroin users started by abusing prescription opioids
RESOURCES
- Visit Test Your Knowledge of the Ongoing Opioid Crisis to see what you know:
www.insynchcs.com/blog/quiz-test-your-knowledge-of-the-ongoing-opioid-crisis
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
www.hhs.gov/opioids/about-the-epidemic/index.html
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
www.cdc.gov/drugoverdose/epidemic/index.html
- WhiteHouse.gov/Opioids
www.opioids.gov
- California Opioid Overdose Surveillance Dashboard
discovery.cdph.ca.gov/CDIC/ODdash/
Adapted from Ventura County Behavioral Health / www.venturacountyresponds.org