Community Leaders Working Together To Alleviate Heroin Problems

BY JACK REYERING
Miami University journalism student
The heroin epidemic plaguing Ohio has reached Butler County and Oxford.

Speaking to Oxford City Council earlier this fall, a former Oxford resident shared his concerns.

“If anybody turns on the news at night, all you see is drugs, drugs, drugs,” the Rev. David Emmerson told council members, reporting that he'd seen a drug-related beating the night before. “So I’d really like to hear some positive ways of trying to fix this problem."

Although Council members couldn’t offer Emmerson immediate solutions, Mayor Kate Rousmaniere expressed her understanding of his concern and the drug problem in Oxford.

“There are a number of various community groups working and looking at various drug and opiate problems in town,” said Rousmaniere, “and the police are also working on these issues as well.”

CHC outlines issues

One leading group -- Oxford's Coalition for a Healthy Community, or CHC -- outlined the issues at an October community forum.

Rousmaniere said such education efforts can help people understand Oxford's drug problem, how it affects the community and how they can work on ways to stop it.

“There were people who spoke at that forum who spoke about middle class people who had drug problems,” Rousmaniere said. “The more instructive we get, and the more people get over the idea that we don’t have a drug problem in Ohio, then we can begin to take the issue seriously.”

Butler County residents seem to acknowledge that there is a serious opiate problem here. In the 2016 Community Health Needs Assessment, conducted by Oxford's McCullough-Hyde Memorial Hospital, 76 percent of the respondents said they believe opiate and substance abuse is the No. 1 most serious health issue facing Butler County residents.

“Nine organizations, serving Butler County, answered the survey,” the report states. “Substance abuse is a major concern to them, especially heroin addiction.”

Statistics are stark

And it's not just a matter of perception. The facts substantiate these community observations. According to the same report, nearly 16 deaths per 100,000 are due to heroin poisoning overdoses in Butler County. That compares to 8.5 per 100,000 in the state as a whole.

“Three health departments provided input: City of Hamilton, City of Middletown, and Butler County. All three Health Commissioners identified obesity and substance abuse as the most serious health issues, and, of the two, the top priority was addressing heroin and prescription drug abuse.”

City Council is certainly taking the issue seriously. Council members Steve Dana and Bob Blackburn recently attended several drug conferences in the Southwest Ohio area to learn more about the problem and what can be done.

"They’ve been helpful -- particularly the last one which was more of an open forum where we discussed best practices in prevention of opiate use,” Dana said.

Resources in place

Although the problem is undeniably present, Dana thinks that Oxford already has the right resources in place to lessen the blow of opiates in Oxford and the surrounding townships.

Amy Macechko, Health and Wellness coordinator for the Talawanda School District, has been instrumental in bringing the problem into the forefront. She helped organize the October forum and believes that spreading the message of how to prevent the development of heroin addiction is the best first step. This means stopping the spread and abuse of prescription painkillers.

“I think there's work that can be done on the front end,” Macechko said, “and that’s what our CHC work group has been engaged with. Our group is taking the initiative so that we can secure, monitor and dispose of them properly.”

Among the strategies: limiting access to gateway drugs.

Working with law enforcement, the CHC has set up "take back" programs where extra drugs can be turned in to law enforcement and disposed of properly. The group also offers a lock box program that allows physicians who prescribe painkillers to provide a lock box to secure the drugs within patients' homes.

CHC is also working with local real estate agents to help them prevent the theft of prescription drugs at open houses. And they are reaching out to veterinarians so that they can monitor drugs that are prescribed to pets and handled by their owners.

The problem is a nationwide one, but Macechko believes that the solutions will come from a cooperative community effort.

“This is a problem that requires all sectors of the community to be engaged,” Macechko says. “I think when we put all of our resources together, taking guidance from the state and national levels, we can come up with solutions.”

Photo: In local newscasts, all you see is "drugs, drugs, drugs," according to a former Oxford resident. -- Photo by Photosforclass.com