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Ohio now leads the nation in opioid-related overdose deaths with a record 4,050 drug overdose deaths reported in 2016, a 33% increase from 2015, according to the Ohio Department of Health. And, some 60% of those abusing or dependent on opioids in the state lack access to appropriate treatment, said Mark Partridge, chair of the C. William Swank Program in Rural-Urban Policy at The Ohio State University and professor in the Department of Agricultural, Environmental, and Development Economics.
These unsettling statistics have encouraged Ohioans (rural, urban and everywhere in between) to ramp up the battle against the state’s devastating opioid epidemic. An event, “Hope for Ohio: A teen forum on the opioid crisis” will combine the efforts of Ohio State University Extension 4-H Healthy Living Advocates, Ohio Farm Bureau, Ohio FFA, and the Prevention Action Alliance on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017 at the Nationwide & Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center. The event will take place 10 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. and the registration deadline is Nov. 22. The forum is designed to educate and prepare both teens and adults to take action against drug abuse in their communities. Highlights include a presentation from Tyler’s Light, a town hall with Ohio Legislators, and programming from Prevention Action Alliance. The day will conclude with an inspirational sendoff from David Kohout. Registration is online at https://ohio4h.org/events/hope-ohio-teen-forum-opioid-crisis and the cost is $10.
According to a report recently released by researchers with the OSU Swank program, medication-assisted treatment is the most clinically effective and cost-efficient method for reducing opioid addiction, abuse and overdose death.
“As it now stands, Ohio likely only has the capacity to treat 20 to 40% of the estimated 92,000 to 170,000 Ohioans who are abusing or dependent on opioids,” Partridge said. “Enacting new laws to take down pill mills and lessen access to prescription opioid drugs alone isn’t going to fix the problem. We need a broader-based approach that includes working with physicians and hospitals in underserved areas to encourage providers to obtain the waiver required to prescribe opioid treatments to their patients.
“As it now stands, many people in rural areas of Ohio have extremely limited access to medication-assisted treatment, which is a particularly critical issue in the rural areas of southwest Ohio where opioid abuse rates are high, but local access to treatment is limited.”
The 2017 analysis, Taking Measure of Ohio’s Opioid Crisis, is 22 pages and available to download free online at go.osu.edu/takingmeasure. The report says medication-assisted treatment has shown to be a clinically effective and cost-efficient approach to treating opioid addiction, with three common medications used in the treatment of opioid addition: methadone, buprenorphine and naltrexone.
Yet, Ohio has only 26 certified methadone treatment centers and 377 doctors who are certified to prescribe buprenorphine.
“It has been estimated that for every dollar spent on methadone and buprenorphine treatment, $1.80 in social savings would be realized,” said Mike Betz, report co-author and assistant professor in Ohio State’s Department of Human Sciences.
Betz said there needs to be a shift in emphasis from stopping pill mills and over-prescribing to treating those already addicted to bring them into the mainstream and assist them in becoming more productive.
“We need a two-pronged approach,” Betz said. “Treatment and a leg up economically through investments in the education, skills, physical health and mental health of Ohio citizens.”
Opioid drugs, including prescription painkillers and heroin, killed more than 33,000 people nationwide in 2015, more than any year on record, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. There were 3,050 overdose deaths in Ohio in 2015, with 58.2% of the deaths blamed on the use of fentanyl and its derivatives, an opioid 50 times stronger than heroin, officials said.
The annual cost of opiate abuse, addiction and overdoses to Ohio is estimated to be between $6.6 billion to $8.8 billion, the report said.
Report co-author Mark Rembert puts the looming figure in perspective.
“Our estimates suggest that the total social and economic costs of the opioid crisis are similar to what the state spends on K-12 education,” said Rembert, report co-author and co-founder of Energize Clinton County, a community economic development non-profit. “The opioid crisis is draining resources that could otherwise be used to support the economic development of the state.”
Partridge said both attention and funding from the federal government are crucial in making a dent in the opioid abuse problem because states like Ohio are already too stretched.
“A federal-state solution is key,” Partridge said. “The federal government has the resources and best practices necessary to tackle a public health and economic challenge of this magnitude.”
Another key finding from the report is that there is a robust and direct correlation between unemployment rates and opiate overdoses and deaths. Individuals living in high-unemployment regions of the state tend to also have high levels of opioid abuse.
“There is also a cumulative disadvantage,” said Bo Feng, a co-author of the report and a Swank research associate. “The longer people are unemployed, the more opiate abuse and overdoses occur.”
Partridge said improving the labor market in hard-hit communities would help.
“Middle- and lower-class families need sufficient incomes and stability,” Partridge said. “While that is a harder policy level to pull, it’s imperative to make any real change.”
I attended the “Hope for Ohio” seminar this past Saturday. It was one of the best I have ever attended. As a school nurse, I see the opioid crisis from the perspective of the children it affects, kids placed into foster care, kids who are being raised by elderly grandparents, and the affect it has on their school success. I applaud your efforts to educate people about this epidemic facing our nation, keep up the fantastic work.
Francie Manukian, RN, MS
School Nurse, South-Western City Schools
David Kohout spoke to students at St. Christine School. After a young student took her life we as a community thought it would be important to have a motivational speaker talk about the dangers of bullying. Unfortunately Mr. Kohout’s speech did more harm than good.
Many teachers, students and parents were very disappointed with his speech. Instead of telling the kids that bullying ANYONE is wrong, Mr Kohout himself bullied some of our children. Both adopted students and homosexual students were made to feel very uncomfortable by the dangerous comments made by Mr. Kohout. Seeing as LGBT teens are four times more likely to attempt suicide, I feel that these comments could have left lasting scars and could have had life and death consequences.
Our schools are supposed to be a safe place for our kids. Mr. Kohout has no business working with children or teenagers. The comments he made make it clear that he does not have a background in education, psychology, health, or counseling. Anyone with such a background understands the harm and damage that can be caused by such hateful words. Adult speakers can have a positive or negative impact on a child, and Mr. Kohout’s comments were irresponsible and had a negative impact on our students.
I have noticed that Mr. Kohout is a scheduled speaker at your event. I felt it was imperative to warn you that when this speaker goes “off script”, the results can be the reason why one of your student goes home from school with suicidal thoughts. What kind of motivational speaker is that?
#SITPOG