Much progress in the battle against heroin, on national, state and local fronts
The outbreak of the nation's deadly heroin and opioid epidemic finally took center stage in the White House and Congress. States and local governments, at the front lines, are also stepping up efforts to stem the deadly scourge.
President Obama wants $1.1 billion in fresh funding to increase access to treatment for addicts nationwide. Congress should oblige in the name of public health and safety.
In the House, Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Longboat Key, is co-sponsoring two major bills that pump federal resources into addressing a broad range of treatment, prevention and education programs as well as law enforcement. Both the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act and the STOP ABUSE Act should work in concert with Obama's proposal.
The Senate approved CARA but this appears to be purely political because no resources were attached to achieve its ambitious goals. Republicans rejected the Democrats' proposed $600 million in funding.
Still, a sense of urgency is talking hold on a national level.
Manatee County stood at the epicenter of Florida's crisis as heroin laced with fentanyl, a terribly potent painkiller, took a heavy toll on addicts' lives. Manatee logged the most per capital deaths from heroin and fentanyl in the state in 2014, a report stated. In 2015, Manatee and Sarasota counties witnessed 150 overdose deaths, the local medical examiner reported.
Buchanan cites a disturbing statewide statistic indicating overdose death skyrocketed by 900 percent in the last five years.
Inadequate treatment options compound this societal menace. Centerstone Florida serves as Manatee County's primary detoxification center with residential and outpatient treatment for addicts. But the center has been hard-pressed to keep up with demand for services with beds invariably full.
Centerstone was assigned a $1.34 million allocation in the state budget to boost addiction services and train sorely needed psychiatrists. The psychiatry residency program should pay dividends around the state, especially in places with few if any of the professionals. And that will help boost addiction treatment.
Manatee County Rural Health Services also scored new funding to fight the heroin and opioid epidemic -- with a $325,000 federal grant. The money is designed to be spent on preventing overdose deaths and providing treatment.
While these are all fine developments, one vital tool is being woefully neglected. At the height of the wholesale abuse of prescription pain medication, the spread of pill mills and unscrupulous doctors handing out deadly drugs like candy, Floridians convinced skeptical lawmakers that a drug monitoring program was essential to preventing patients from receiving too many opioid scripts.
Florida's Prescription Drug Monitoring Program requires pharmacists to enter drug dispensing information into the computerized monitoring program and it requires doctors to check the system before prescribing powerful and addictive pain medications.
The Centers for Disease Control recently gave Florida the worst grade for physician participation in the program because the state does not require doctors to check a patient's history before issuing the initial prescription.
That renders the PDMP useless, the CDC wrote. Patients could have received a number of prescriptions from other physicians, a red flag on issuing another. Shame on Florida for this loophole.
The best development on the heroin front comes from law enforcement. Last month, the Manatee County Sheriff's Office, Bradenton Police Department and federal Drug Enforcement Administration arrested 15 people on heroin trafficking and other various drug charges.
The investigation began in September 2014 as overdose deaths spiked. Investigators believe one of the suspects distributed large quantities of heroin to other dealers, but that drug pipeline has been shut down.
This year, the MCSO and BPD have not reported a single heroin overdose casualty. But Centerstone reports demand for services remains high, also a promising development as more drug abusers seek a lifeline instead of a mainline.
This story was originally published March 23, 2016 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Much progress in the battle against heroin, on national, state and local fronts ."