Wake Forest, a town that likes to advertise its small-town charm, has not been spared from the ravages of the opioid drug use and deaths that are being seen across America, small towns and cities alike.
Police Chief Jeff Leonard and his officers in the Wake Forest Police Department answered a number of questions this week about drug and opioid use and deaths. Some of the questions had them scrambling to find the answers, and the editor thanks them all and appreciates their efforts. One of the questions was the number of overdoses for three years: 2015, 2016 and 2017.
The department reported: “In 2015 we had 22 total overdoses. Nine were due to heroin. Of those, four were fatal. The ages were 21, 23, 31, and 46.
“In 2016 we had 18 total overdoses. Three were due to heroin. Of those, none were fatal.
“In 2017 we have had four total overdoses as of today’s date. None were due to heroin.
“Of the total 44 overdoses, other than heroin, the other impairing substances used were alcohol, cocaine, marijuana, over the counter medications, prescription medications, and unknown substances.”
In response to a different question, the department said, “Officers have charged for a variety of controlled substance offenses,” the written answers said. “Some are illegal controlled substances such as marijuana, cocaine, and heroin and some are legal controlled substances being obtained, sold, or taken illegally such as Xanax, Oxycontin, Adderall.”
Also, “We have had cases involving heroin cut with fentanyl,” which is a synthetic opioid painkiller that is up to 50 times more potent than heroin alone.
Some police departments have their officers carry Naloxone (brand name Narcan), which is an antidote for an overdose, but in Wake Forest, “Our officers do not currently carry Narcan or Naloxone kits. Rather, we call Emergency Medical Services who are much more highly trained to treat people exhibiting symptoms of a drug overdose.”
North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein has put battling opioid abuse at the top of his agenda and early this month joined with legislators and law enforcement official to unveil legislation focusing on improved rules to prescribe and dispense drugs like OxyContin as well as $10 million in each of the next two years for treating opioid abusers, helping them get clean.
One impetus for Stein and lawmakers may have been a new report by Castlight Health which found the worst city in the United States for opioid abuse was Wilmington, North Carolina. Three other North Carolina cities were listed in the top 20 – Hickory at fifth, Jacksonville at 12 and Fayetteville at 18. The Castlight Health study analyzed up-to-date anonymous health data from nearly a million people covered by employer-based insurance. The study did not analyze any data for people who have Medicaid, Medicare or are uninsured.
Opioid overdoses plague North Carolina
By Jason DeBruyn
The following article about North Carolina drug use was aired by WUNC-TV (North Carolina Public Television) on Dec. 28, 2016. It has been slightly edited, but it is included here for the wide and up-to-date coverage of a serious problem.
North Carolina faces a drug overdose problem that has strained police departments, hospitals, and care communities. The epidemic has ripped through families, leaving a wide berth of sorrow in its wake.
“We think this is the number one public health crisis in North Carolina.” said Dr. Randall Williams, the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services deputy secretary of Health Services. “I don’t think we can overstate the enormity of the issue.”
From 1999 to 2015, deaths caused by unintentional poisoning increased more than five-fold, according to data from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services branch of injury and violence prevention. Of those deaths, more than nine out of 10 are caused by drugs, both prescription medications as well as illicit drugs like heroin or cocaine.
Deaths from drug overdoses have skyrocketed in North Carolina, while homicides have remained relatively flat.
In 2015, medication and drug overdoses claimed more than 1,200 lives in North Carolina, up from just 300 per year around the turn of the millennium. No other cause of death has skyrocketed as sharply. To put the increase in perspective, there are now more than twice as many annual deaths from drug overdoses than murders in North Carolina. As recently as 2002, murders still claimed more lives than drug overdoses.
Increasingly, the drug that causes the most destruction is heroin. This is in part because users are getting heroin laced with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid painkiller that is up to 50 times more potent than heroin alone. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration has reported that during the past two years, “The distribution of clandestinely manufactured fentanyl has been linked to an unprecedented outbreak of thousands of overdoses and deaths.”
Those in law enforcement and health care say users don’t realize they have received fentanyl-laced heroin, which has contributed to the sharp increase in deaths. Or worse, users are seeking higher highs, and are buying extremely potent drugs.
There is a growing body of evidence that links an increase in heroin use to a wider availability of prescription opioids like Oxycontin and Vicodin, which can have similar effects on the body as heroin. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly half of young people who inject heroin surveyed in three recent studies reported abusing prescription opioids before starting to use heroin. The CDC further estimates that 4.2 million Americans have tried heroin at least once in their lives.
Donnie Varnell is a Special Agent In-Charge with the N.C. Department of Justice and has witnessed the spike in opioid abuse firsthand. He said that in the mid-2000s those dealing with opioid abuse likely started with a legitimate medical issue, but then saw the use of painkillers get out of hand. Now, however, people are starting to abuse the drugs early, even in their teenage years, which leads to heroin use, and now heroin laced with fentanyl.
“The first time you use heroin might be your last time,” he said. “Absolutely. And that’s not even being dramatic. We have people overdosing … because they don’t know how to use and there is no way to tell what the mixture is. And if you don’t know there is fentanyl in it, the chances of you overdosing just skyrocket.”
Varnell has been vocal across the state encouraging the law enforcement community to not see drug users simply as criminals, but as people who need help. Thanks to his efforts, many police officers now work with users to get them help. Instead of simply making an arrest, an officer might transport a drug user to a clinic, for example.
(Editor’s note: Nashville Police Chief Tom Bashore encourages drug users from Nash County and across the region who want to become free of their addiction to walk into his police station and ask for help. He and his officers guide the men and women through withdrawal and recovery with much success.)
In addition to a sharp spike in deaths, unintentional overdoses have put an additional strain on North Carolina’s hospitals. According to DHHS data, hospitalizations from unintentional medication and drug poisonings have increased more than 72 percent in the past decade to more than 4,500 in 2014.
There is reason to believe the opioid epidemic is worse in North Carolina than other states. The CDC reports there are 97 prescriptions for painkillers for every 100 people in North Carolina – nearly one per person, on average. The average can be higher than one per resident because an individual could obtain multiple prescriptions in a given year by the same physician, or could seek a similar prescription from a different physician.
This has affected the increase in illegal use. The same CDC report shows that of the prescription pain killers used for something other than prescribed medical purpose, more than half were obtained for free by a friend or relative.
However, there is reason to hope that North Carolina could see a reversal in the trend of increasing overdose deaths. This past summer, Gov. Pat McCrory signed Senate Bill 734, authorizing a statewide standing order for naloxone, meaning anyone in the state can purchase the drug without prescription. Naloxone, which is sold under the brand name Narcan, reverses the effects of an opioid overdose and works within minutes of injection. It is an opioid antagonist and does not hurt the body if a person has not overdosed.
“It’s not so much to the people being affected by the drug because you can imagine if they’ve overdosed, then they can’t save themselves,” said Williams. “It’s really for their loved ones and those around them, their friends, co-workers, family. We’ve heard, anecdotally, stories of 14-year-olds getting it so they can save their 18-year-old brother’s life if he overdoses while he’s at home.”
The governor’s action follows a 2013 order that made naloxone available to law enforcement officers to carry. Just in late November, the North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition (NCHRC), a statewide nonprofit dedicated to reducing drug overdose deaths, reported there have been more than 5,000 drug overdose reversals using naloxone.
In addition, McCrory signed a 911 Good Samaritan law. This gives some immunity to individuals who call for help during an overdose situation. If police respond to a 911 emergency where there are small amounts of drugs or paraphernalia, the users in that house will not be charged with a crime. This has freed up users to call for help without fear of criminal prosecution.
