Drug Abuse

In 2012, there were 75 accidental drug overdoses in Ohio.

In 2014, 503.

In 2015, there were 1,155*

What will that number be in 2016?

What are we doing in Extension to help this crisis?

The OSU Conversation on the Opioid Crisis event was held to bring awareness to the current opioid crisis in Ohio. Invited participated included but were not limited to: healthcare professionals, the college of public health the College of Pharmacy, College of Food, Ag, and Environmental Sciences, and Extension professionals from all program areas.

The theme throughout the day was somber and urgent. The need for action is now. The way to get results is through the community.

“We don’t gain without partnership”
-Bruce McPheron, Executive Vice President and Provost, The Ohio State University

“Addition is a disease solved by communities, not government”
-Senator Rob Portman

“…begins in the community”
-William J. Martin II, Dean, OSU College of Public Health

“(It takes)…heart to apply this to our communities”
-Mark Hurst, Medical Director of Ohio Mental Health and Addiction Services

As an Extension professional, this wording was so significant to me that I scrambled for a highlighter and started highlighting the theme in my notes (those who know me, know I take a LOT of notes). It was in that moment I started to realize that I knew the importance of Extension in the community, but that other people were realizing our potential also! As an organization that has taken the research of the University to the people since its inception, this is something we were built for. Rear Admiral James Lando reaffirmed my thoughts.

“Translate the science into public understanding”
– Rear Admiral James Lando, Regional Health Administration; Region 5

I have to admit, the reiteration of our purpose of Extension being able to assist in a crisis situation had me on the edge of my seat, looking for information, and brainstorming solutions for the entirety of the session. We will take a look at some of the facts I found most significant, and my personal reflections on what I think we can do to help.

Key Facts from the Speakers

There is much to be said about the facts and information behind drug abuse and misuse. In fact I’m sure that throughout the day I missed many facts that could be easily put into this post. As I am a youth development professional, I will be highlighting some that I find most relevant to that area.

The Rear Admiral focused on age, pointing out that brain developed does not end until after the age of 21-25 (depending on gender), and “It is never too early or too late to prevent substance abuse” (Lando). Mark Hurst, Director of Ohio Mental Health and Addiction Services indicated that there are a number of things families can do to prevent drug abuse (In partnership with the Start Talking program, that can be found at http://starttalking.ohio.gov/).

Talk to your child.
Have dinner as a family as much as possible
Keeping youth involved in extra curriculars
Decreased opportunities for exposure to substances
Discarding addictive drugs when no longer needed

(Credit to Hurst for this information, as it was paraphrased)

Lando reminded us that addiction is a chronic brain disease. It is not a reflection of moral shortcoming. Hurst continues Lando’s throughts that “Addiction is the brain’s response to the drug, including the craving and inability to control actions. 18.4 million people do not perceive a need for treatment, while 880,000 have accepted their need for treatment. I saw this recently in my leadership trip to Chicago. I sat down with a man who was homeless. His name was Rich, and his eyes and mannerisms led me to believe that he was struggling with addiction, or had for some time. He indicated to me that other people “Had drug problems, but they wouldn’t seek help”. There in front of me was this substance abuse connection.

Scott Novak with Research Triangle Institute/Battelle made a interesting point in contrast with many comments that I have previously heard about drug misuse.

It hits all demographics. No one is immune.

Even once someone admits they have a problem, they may struggle to find a doctor willing to help them, while those incarcerated often (50%) return to drugs due to a lack of employment (Novak). In fact, according to Hurst, someone who is recovering has a 50/50 chance of relapse after one year, but after 5 years only a 14% chance.

Why Bother?

So why should you care? I will tell you why I care. I care because our youth are no exception to this pandemic. There is a 193 BILLION dollar cost to this problem (Lando). Treatment is more cost effective than no treatment. We risk permanent brain damage to what could be our great minds and game changers of tomorrow. The stigma of drug abuse has to change before we can help those most in need of our care. Youth development professionals like myself can delay or even stop youth from exposure to drugs, involvement in extra curriculars, and help eliminate excess addictive drugs from households.

Right now, more people die from drug overdoses in a year than car accidents (McPheron), and drug related deaths double homicide rates in Columbus, Ohio (Novak).

Now What?

The hardest question asked is what are we going to do about it? First step, let’s raise awareness. Let’s talk to anyone who will listen. In our case, for this day, we ignite. We sit down with topic areas, and talk about what we think could help, with people from all areas, all backgrounds, and think critically about ideas to change this situation. There were predetermined topics, and open space topics. Some of the things we spoke about included:

The importance of education to parents about warning signs, symptoms, and prevention.
Prevention education through schools.
Helping organize medication take back programs to help families eliminate access to drugs.
Intervention programming for minors who have been found in possession or misuse of drugs.

We cannot fix the Opioid crisis in a day, but we can take action now in our communities that will make the next month, 6 months, year, or 5 years improve. The biggest question for OSU Extension Professionals is what are you going to do for your community, and how can you help with your skills and talents? More than ever our communities need us to work at- “Building better lives, better businesses and better communities”.

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