Ohio finds novel ways to fight the opioid epidemic - Entrepreneur Generations

State officials, nonprofit organizations and private citizens are finding novel ways to attack the opioid epidemic in rural Ohio. These programs could be useful in other rural areas; states with large rural populations like West Virginia, Kentucky and New Hampshire are where overdose death rates are rising fastest. "The CDC goes so far as to say that the combination of living in a rural area and having a low income is proven to increase your risk of prescription opioid abuse and overdose," Karen Bernick reports for Successful Farming.

Ohio has been hit hard in recent years: Ohio consistently ranks at the top of overdose death statistics and had more than 4,100 deaths from accidental drug overdose in 2016 -- a 26 percent jump from 2015. Much of the state's opioid woes began with prescription pill mills that helped thousands become (or stay) addicted and branch out to the often-cheaper heroin and synthetic opioids like fentanyl and carfentanil.

Deterra pouches

Christmas tree farmer Kathi Albertson began a Farm Bureau program in Guernsey County to prevent unused prescription opioids from circulating in the community. The genesis of the idea came to her last year when she was prescribed Percocet after shoulder surgery. "I didn't want the pills sitting around my house," she told Bernick, so she shared her concerns with her pharmacist. He gave her a small plastic pouch called a Deterra Drug Deactivation System and told her to add water to it, shake it up, then throw it out. The pouch contains a charcoal material that neutralizes about 98 percent of the medication.

"The simple solution gave Albertson an idea to help prevent volumes of pills from circulating in her county," Bernick reports. "She worked with her local Farm Bureau to purchase 200 Deterra bags and they also obtained 1,000 more bags through a grant program by Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals. They enlisted a local anti-addiction organization called CHOICES to help get the word out they had bags available." They held pill disposal drives and dropped off the bags to local organizations and businesses that could distribute them in the community.

Michele Specht, the organization director for the Ohio Farm Bureau in Carroll, Harrison, Jefferson, and Tuscarawas counties, began working on preventing addiction in rural youth last year. Specht and local Farm Bureaus met with educators to talk about addiction. They also brought photo booth equipment to county fairs and other events where 4-H, Future Farmers of America and Farm Bureau youths would gather and encouraged the kids to take pictures with their advisors, teachers, friends, and parents. The youth were encouraged to tape the pictures to their dresser or bathroom mirror to remind them who they could turn to instead of drugs.

Theresa Ferrari, a 4-H Extension specialist in Youth Development and associate professor at Ohio State University, has also been working on addiction awareness and prevention for youth. She and Ohio 4-H youth leaders designed an educational booth for state and county fairs with a medicine cabinet filled with pill bottles. Each pill bottle's label has facts about opioid addiction. Ferrari says the display is meant to remind people that addiction often starts in a person's home. "Looking into a bathroom mirror is a powerful image because this issue can affect anyone," Ferrari told Bernick. "No one wakes up in the morning and says, 'I think I’ll become a heroin addict,' but it often starts with a person standing over their bathroom sink."

Ferrari and Specht are both on the planning committee of a statewide teen forum on the opioid epidemic called "Hope for Ohio". The forum will take place on Dec. 2 at the Nationwide and Ohio Farm Bureau 4-H Center in Columbus, and will promote drug prevention and awareness among 4-H, FFC and Farm Bureau youth and adults.

from The Rural Blog http://ift.tt/2AcUiVI Ohio finds novel ways to fight the opioid epidemic - Entrepreneur Generations

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