Town Hall Meeting to Confront Opiate Abuse and Addiction in Marion

Members of the Marion County Opiate Task Force, the Crawford-Marion ADAMH Board and the Marion-Crawford Prevention Program have marshaled their resources to confront the opiate drug abuse, a problem they say is becoming an epidemic in Ohio, with a town hall meeting set for Tuesday, April 9, 2013 from 6:30pm to 8:00pm at Harding High School in the Cafetorium.

The meeting is an outgrowth of the Opiate Task Force, formed in July of 2011, a partnership of organizations and individuals that are seeking to attack the issue on a multi-pronged front, according to Jody Demo-Hodgins, director of the Marion-Marion ADAMH Board.  The format is designed to provide education for attendees from a variety of fields including: law enforcement, alcohol and drug abuse treatment and prevention professionals, medical, clergy and a person in recovery.

“Our hope is to provide some education to the community and to address the role we all play in prevention of prescription drug abuse,” Demo-Hodgins said.

Deaths from overdoses of prescription painkillers have more than tripled in the past decade, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 40 people die each day from overdoses involving narcotic pain relievers, or opiates, such as hydrocodone (Vicodin), methadone, oxycodone (Oxycontin) and oxymorphone (Opana).

In Ohio in 1990 – there were 598 people being treated for opiate addiction. In 2010 – the number increased to 17,405. Between 1997 and 2010 – the per capita increase in prescribed opiates increase by almost 1000%.

Since 2006, more Ohioans have died as a result of drug overdoses than in motor vehicle crashes and Opiates account for 40% of these deaths. Another alarming trend is that some who become addicted to prescription drugs are gravitating to heroin, an opiate with much stronger side effects because it is cheaper to obtain.

In 2010, there were 75 pills prescribed for every man woman and child in Marion County. In 2012, Marion County had 16 individuals die from opiate or heroin overdoses.

The town hall meeting program will feature a panel representing the recovery community, treatment, law enforcement and families of those addicted.  The director of the Ohio Department of Alcohol and Drug Addiction Services – Orman Hall – will be part of the program.

The program is free and open to the public. Those present will have an opportunity to ask questions and gather information.  In particular, parents are encouraged to attend.

For more information contact ADAMH at 740-387-8531.