Hancock County calls to address Fentanyl epidemic; raising key awareness
According to many sources, at least 150 people die every day in the U.S. from overdoses related to synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, and that number continues to grow. Because of the fentanyl epidemic and the dangers it poses to everyone, including children, it is so important for all to be aware.
Earlier this year, the Clarion informed readers about the KACo (KY Assoc. of Counties) National Opioid Settlement monies, which included words from Judge/Executive Johnny Roberts. He and others are looking at ways to best use those dollars to help in Hancock County.
Fentanyl is 50 times more potent than heroin
Fentanyl is 50 times more potent than heroin, and 100 times stronger than morphine. It is a major contributor to fatal and non-fatal overdoses in the U.S. The most recent cases of fentanyl-related overdoses are linked to illicitly manufactured fentanyl (IMF), distributed through illegal drug markets.
Illicit drugs don’t come with an ingredient list, and many contain deadly doses of fentanyl, which cannot be seen, smelled or tasted. Inexpensive fentanyl test strips can be used, but they may not detect more potent fentanyl-like drugs, such as carfentanyl.
Fentanyl is being pressed into fake pills made to look like OxyContin, Xanax, Adderall and other pharmaceutical medicines. These pills are also sometimes made in rainbow colors, which could cause a child to possibly think they’re candy, as Nancy Moffett wrote about in her column, Nancy’s Notes, in the Clarion this year.
DEA lab testing reveals that 6 out of every 10 fake pills with fentanyl contain a potentially lethal dose. That is why the name of the U.S. Government program to spread awareness about this epidemic is “One Pill Can Kill.”
The opioid settlement money will be used to help with this problem, and Judge Roberts spoke to that. “County Attorney Paul Madden, Jr. and I have talked and we’re going to be looking at utilizing that money in ways that it supports services that helps those folks, because it’s a very serious issue,” Roberts said. “The fentanyl is becoming increasingly an issue too. We’ll be getting some people together, and putting our heads together to see how we can do this. I’ve had some folks reach out. We welcome the conversation with people that have ideas and have more avenues that maybe we can partner with to get this money out in a way that it can be more impactful for our community.”
Adolescents experimenting with drugs
Adolescents experimenting with drugs will most likely be getting those drugs from a dealer, and that’s when the pressed pills that are laced with fentanyl can end up in their hands. It isn’t just laced into pills, it is also laced into marijuana, which many teens are notorious for experimenting with.
Barbie Matthews, Licensed Clinical Social Worker at Lighthouse Counseling Services in Hawesville, said that she tries to warn her clients about these risks. “They’re like, ‘It’s just marijuana.’ And I say, ‘But, you’re unaware of what you’re smoking,’” Matthews said. “You have no idea what it is. Could it be laced with something? Could this be something that would be the last thing that you smoke? It may not just be marijuana, because you have no idea what’s being sold to you.”
Nicki Feher, Clinical Office Manager & Project Director for the Certified Community Behavioral Health Clinic at RiverValley Behavioral Health (RVBH), said their medication assisted treatment program has had a growing number of patients since its beginning in 2020. “Since then, our numbers have continued to double. The opioid and fentanyl that’s in our 7 county region has escalated,” Feher said. “We started with about 8 patients in 2020, and we’re up to over 100 patients right now in our program.
With that program, we give NARCAN (Naloxone – used for emergency treatment of opioid overdose) to our clients. We did go through the Kentucky Opioid Response Effort (KORE), and they gave us NARCAN to put out into the communities. We’re up to over 900 doses that we’ve given away within 5 different counties of our region.” She said they continue to set up events, and that Hancock County is on their list.
“What I’m learning,” Feher added, “is that there is no face to substance abuse. There is no social status. I think that’s a big point to make, is that there is nobody that is immune to substance abuse disorders.”
“Fentanyl is so potent,” Brooke Arnold, Director for the RVBH Regional Prevention Center said. “It takes such a miniscule amount. That’s why it’s so easy to hide it inside of other drugs – like those pills that are pressed, or in marijuana, or any other kind of drug.
For me, working from the prevention side of things, we focus a lot on primary prevention as well as promotions, meaning that we are promoting intervention, treatment and recovery. We partner with Nicki a lot with getting out into the community so that people can not only hear about treatment services, but also be educated in general about opiates and other substances.
Every county that we serve is unique. They have their own individual needs, however any addiction does not discriminate, and we know that. It is something that, unfortunately, it crosses all of our county lines, not just in our region but across the whole state.
And, anytime that we can get the information out to try to prevent a family experiencing the heartache and devastation that often comes along with fentanyl, we want to try to be part of that solution. It does take a very coordinated effort. Being able to have a strategic, coordinated approach is what a lot of the counties that we work with are trying to figure out.”
Side effects of fentanyl
Side effects of fentanyl include: confusion, drowsiness, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, changes in pupil size, cold & clammy skin, coma, and respiratory failure leading to death. It only takes about 2 milligrams of fentanyl to make-up a lethal dose. That small amount could fit on the tip of a pencil.
More information and resources are available for parents and caregivers at: https://www.dea.gov/
By Jennifer Wimmer
Read further about services provided by Lighthouse Counseling Services in Hawesville and RVBH in Owensboro, as well as how and when to use NARCANs, helpful facts are included in these following links: www.lcsinc.org/ https://www.rvbh.com/
https://www.chfs.ky.gov/
https://unshameky.org/pages/
https://www.chfs.ky.gov/
