Opioids

County task force seeks to reduce opioid addiction and overdoses

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Between January and June 2020, 16 people in Thurston County died of drug overdoses, with nine of those being linked to opioids.

That was the latest data made available by the Thurston County Opioid Response Task Force. Such statistics are the reason the task force was created. Currently, its members are working on a new plan to address opioid addiction and overdoses in Thurston County.

The plan is scheduled to be presented to the Thurston County Board of Health in July. Once ratified, it would be in place until the end of 2021. This is an ambitious timeframe, said Katie Strozyk, opioid response coordinator for the county’s department of Public Health and Social Services. Strozyk spoke during a task force meeting this afternoon, noting that there are only two more meetings between then and July.

The previous plan was put into effect in mid-2019 and lasted until the end of 2020. Many parts of the plan are relevant, and require updating rather than being replaced.

Besides the well-known illegal drug heroin, opioids also include prescription medications including: 

  • Codeine
  • Fentanyl
  • Hydrocodone
  • Oxycodone
  • Oxymorphone
  • Morphine

Such medications often are sold under the brand names OxyContin, Percocet, Palladone and Vicodin.

“We don’t want to completely start over and reinvent the wheel because there’s a lot of things that we’re doing that we need to stay focused on, that are working, and that need to continue moving forward,” said Strozyk.

The new plan will likely build on the tenets of the old plan, but updated with the most current data. For example, Strozyk said some of the current projects that have momentum and will continue are increasing ways people can dispose of unneeded medication. A major ongoing task force program is distributing naloxone — a nasal spray that can reverse an opioid overdose. Task force members have been reaching out to hotels and motels, offering to provide naloxone and train staff members on how to administer it.

Steps like these both provide a potentially life-saving medication, and helps to reduce the stigma that was once associated with naloxone, but seems to be decreasing.

The task force was created in 2019 to work toward six goals that were identified after the county health department first declared opioid’s usage in the county a crisis. The goals are:

  • “Preventing opioid misuse, abuse and dependency by improving prescribing practices.
  • Treating opioid abuse and dependence through expanded access to treatment.
  • Preventing deaths from overdoses by working to educate and expand the distribution of naloxone to individuals who use drugs and educating individuals about the signs of an overdose.
  • Using existing data and enhancing data collection efforts to detect opioid and other illicit drug misuse/abuse and scientific evidence to inform the selection of strategies.
  • Identifying and implementing innovative strategies that reduce the risk of overdose to individuals and diverse communities that are disproportionately impacted by the opioid epidemic and reduce stigma.
  • Reduce exposure and access to opioids among infants, youth and families.”

In December 2019, the task force put together a list of 33 objectives on dealing with each of those goals. Since then, 15 were completed, 13 were revised, nine were dropped entirely and nine are still in progress. The list and progress of each objective is available online: https://www.thurstoncountywa.gov/phss/phssdocuments/SMART%20Objectives%20-%20MASTER%20LIST%20November%20Update%202020.pdf

Groups within the task force will meet throughout January and February to discuss strategies to update and improve the plan. A public meeting in March will allow the progress to be discussed. Finally, a public meeting in May will allow task force members to discuss a draft plan that, once completed, will go to the health department.

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