Summit aims at opioid abuse – News – Devils Lake Journal – Devils Lake, ND

The Adair County Opioid Coalition will host its second Opioid Summit Monday, aimed at bringing community members together to address the United States’ most deadly drug problem.

The event will begin at 9:30 a.m. at the Truman State University Student Union. It will include addresses on the state of the opioid epidemic nationwide and locally, as well as discussions of treatment and prevention for opioid addiction.

Ron Stewart, the summit’s organizer at the Medical Reserve Corps coordinator with the Adair County Health Department, said the original target audience for the event included health care providers and others, like first responders, who might need to administer care to people taking opioids. It was expanded, however, to include outreach to the general public.

Stewart said the Health Department has expanded its focus to include all aspects of the opioid issue, rather than just treatment for addicts.

“For example, what causes this? Why would someone suddenly be addicted to an opioid? What we’re finding out, of course, is that sometimes it certainly isn’t intentional,” Stewart said. “We’ve learned that some pain medications are extremely addictive.”

Stewart said the drug fentanyl, a narcotic used to treat severe pain but with a high potential for addiction, has become increasingly common in the past few years. He said the drug can be added to marijuana or gummy candies by users who believe they are avoiding the risk of overdose, but there is no way to clearly measure what levels of fentanyl will be harmful.

Issues addressed at the summit will include not just how to treat opioid addiction itself, but also how to address some of its root causes, including mental health concerns and chronic pain. Speakers will also cover medications that can help with addiction, including Narcan, which can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.

Stewart said the greatest deficit Adair County suffers from in providing help for opioid users is a lack of readily available medication-assisted treatment. MAT is a long-term treatment method which uses non-addictive medication to treat opioid cravings.

Physicians have worked to expand the accessibility of suboxone, one common treatment, but patients would still need to travel to Hannibal to access the nearest methadone clinic; methadone must be taken daily under a doctor’s supervision.

Stewart said he hopes the summit will provide an opportunity for community members to network and work together on solutions.

“I think as a coalition we’ve worked hard in the last couple of years to increase the awareness level,” Stewart said. “But you can’t stop at awareness. How do we stop it before it starts?”

Stewart said the Opioid Coalition aimed to include a variety of speakers at the summit, including state and local officials, an addict in recovery and a parent whose son died of an opioid overdose.

“There’s something in here for anyone,” Stewart said.

Speakers at the event will include Attorney General Eric Schmitt; Nora Bock, the deputy director of community treatment for the Division of Behavioral Health; Angela Caraway of Mark Twain Behavioral Health; Kathy Hoppe of Preferred Family Healthcare; Adair County Sheriff Robert Hardwick; Kat Probst of the Adair County Ambulance District; Jim Marshall, founder of drug abuse prevention nonprofit Cody’s Gift; and David Stocker, a member of the Missouri State Advisory Council for Substance Use.