Check out the link below to read about the Surgeon General’s call to end the opioid crisis and TAKE THE PLEDGE!

As HEALTH CARE PROFESSIONALS, we believe we have the unique power to end the opioid crisis. We pledge to:

1. Educate ourselves to treat pain safely and effectively.

2. Screen our patients for opioid use disorder and provide or connect them with evidence-based treatment.

3. Talk about and treat addiction as a chronic illness, not a moral failing.

Take the pledge to help end the opioid crisis today.

http://turnthetiderx.org/

Check out Morris County’s pictures from Knock Out Opiate Abuse Day!

Morris County freeholders declaring October 6th “Knock Out Opiate Abuse Day” in Morris County

Volunteers speaking to doctors at Atlantic Health about the dangers of prescription opiates

CCSHM is so proud to be a part of this effort, particularly in partnering with Partnership for a Drug Free NJ in the October 6th statewide day of awareness, “Knock Out Opiate Abuse Day.”

Read Partnership for a Drug Free NJ’s full blog here:

http://www.drugfreenj.org/blog/

Check out our Executive Director and Associate Director from last week’s Epiphany Community Services Retreat. Christopher Goeke and Melody Runyon presented on the development of prevention to recovery as a continuum. They discussed how prevention as we knew it has been re-designed. Morris County Prevention is Key has transformed itself from a “prevention services only” agency into a multi-faceted leader in the areas of Community-based Recovery Support, Relapse Prevention, Peer Training & Mobilization, D & A Prevention, Advocacy and Cross-Systems Collaboration.

The Pinwheel Project, which is a display of 5,000 brightly colored pinwheels to represent the 5,000 annual deaths among underage youth, was put on display at high schools throughout Morris County, including: Jefferson High School, Pequannock High School, Morristown High School,  Mt. Olive High School, West Morris Mendham High School, and Chatham High School.
Thank you to Susan Mele, the Student Assistance Counselor and Junior Class Advisor at Morristown High School for participating in this initiative with students! Check out some pictures from Morristown’s setup.

Morristown High School’s Pinwheel Project display

   Susan Mele, Student Assistance Counselor
(Below) 11th Graders: Yusty Sanchez, Zachary Baskin, and Jack Ross

(Below) 11th Grader Zora Dong
12th Grader Quetzalli Vidal Sanchez

(Below) 11th Graders Rebecca Murray, Amanda Casabona, and Erin Joel

(Below) 11th Grader Donna PIzzamenti

Thank you to Chatham High School, and their Student Assistance Counselor Lisa Lattarulo, and West Mendham High School and their Student Assistance Counselor Tamara D’Allesio, for participating in our annual Pinwheel Project, bringing awareness to the over 5,000 youth lives lost annually to underage drinking.

Chatham High School (below)

West Morris Mendham High School (below)

Thank you to Pequannock High School and the Pequannock Township Coalition for participating in this year’s Pinwheel Project!

 Pequannock High School

Pequannock High School Students

Pequannock High School Students Pequannock High School Students and Staff

Please join us to learn what Morris County is doing to confront the opiate epidemic from prevention to recovery, and how you can be a part of its efforts. 

Please join us at our Morris County Task Force on Opiates meeting to address current county issues:
Tuesday, February 21st at 5 PM
Office of Temporary Assistance 340 West Hanover Ave, Morristown, NJ

Rockaway, NJ – Representatives from Rockaway, NJ headed to the Washington, D.C., area to join approximately 3,000 substance abuse prevention specialists and advocates from throughout the country for CADCA’s (Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America’s) 27^th Annual National Leadership Forum.

“We are humbled to be have been chosen to share our successes in linking prevention science with recovery support for high impact community outcomes,” related Christopher Goeke, Project Director for CCSHM.  “Being asked to present at CADCA on our work is such a fantastic opportunity to further extend our collaborative efforts nationally.”

CADCA’s Forum covered a wide range of topics – everything from how to prevent prescription drug abuse and the abuse of synthetic drugs and marijuana to how to create tobacco-free environments and develop policies to reduce underage drinking.

Morris County Prevention is Key is excited to be launching the Addiction Recovery Response Team. This is a really unique public collaboration aimed at reducing the relapse rates from opiate use in Morris County. Key community partners like CARES, the hospitals, the Prosecutors office, and the Department of Human Services are coming together to make Certified Peer Recovery Specialist (CPRS) available in the hospital emergency rooms anytime someone is saved from an opioid overdose with Naloxone. The CPRS’s will meet with the patients in the ER with the goal of getting them into treatment and hopefully long term recovery. Training to become a CPRS is available exclusively through the CARES located in Rockaway, NJ.

The coalition representatives heard from several federal leaders including Michael Botticelli, former director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) who both received CADCA’s National Leadership Award at the event. Morris County Prevention Is Key also met with U.S. representatives and senators at the Forum’s Capitol Hill Day event on Wednesday, Feb. 8.

CADCA’s National Leadership Forum, the nation’s largest training event for community prevention leaders, treatment professionals and researchers, took place at the Gaylord National Hotel and Convention Center on Feb. 6-9. Visit the Forum website for details about training sessions, speakers, and special events at cadca.org/events/forum2017.

For more information on Morris County Prevention is Key or CARES, please visit                                                     www.mcpik.org or www.morris.caresnj.org

Health leaders call for immediate action to curb smoking in the U.S. Every year cigarette smoking contributes to about one in five deaths in the United States. A group of prominent health leaders called for the immediate implementation of national action to reduce the number of smokers in the country by 15 million in a report published last week. The call to action aims to curb smoking, the largest cause of preventable death and illness in the United States, by reducing the number of adult smokers from 40 million to 25 million by 2024.

The report, which solicited input from 120 key tobacco leaders from different organizations in the United States, found that smoking prevention and quitting rates have made progress among young people, but smoking cessation for adults is lagging. Every year, smoking costs the United States more than $300 billion, of which nearly $170 billion goes directly to health care for adults who have diseases caused by tobacco use. More than $156 billion is lost in productivity because of premature deaths and exposure to secondhand smoke. “It is much cheaper to pay for cessation measures than to pay for the treatment of diseases caused by smoking,” said Michael Cummings, co-leader of the Tobacco Research Program and professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Medical University of South Carolina. About 7 in 10 adult smokers want to stop smoking. Around half attempt to quit every year and only a fraction succeed in staying off cigarettes, according to a study in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The percentage of adults who attempted to quit smoking increased by only five percent from 2000 to 2015. The report strongly recommends the adoption of three strategies that could help curb smoking among adults. The first involves raising taxes on cigarettes and other combustible tobacco products, while keeping taxes low on noncombustible nicotine products, such as nicotine replacement medications and electronic cigarettes. The contributors of the report believe this new tax structure will compel more people to shift to safer noncombustible alternative nicotine products. The second strategy involves giving people greater access to tobacco dependence treatment services because the most common method used by smokers – quitting cold turkey – yields the lowest success rate, at only about five percent. Tobacco dependence treatment services involve a combination of behavioral counseling and pharmacotherapy consisting of nicotine replacement medications (gum, patch, lozenge, inhaler or nasal spray) or prescription non-nicotine medications (Zyban or Chantix) and have a success rate of 20 percent in comparison. Health-care disparities make it difficult for adults who belong to certain groups, such as those with low incomes, to get access to intensive counseling and medications that ease the process of quitting. To address this issue, CADCA’s Geographic Health Equity Alliance (GHEA) specifically focuses on education and awareness campaigns in populations experiencing tobacco-related disparities.

The Hope One Van made its first stop Monday, at the Morristown Green. The goal: to try to spread the message and connect with those struggling with addiction.

The Hope Van, now a mobile recovery access center, was made possible by dollars from convicted drug dealers. Morris County Sheriff James Gannon says, “It’s all about education and treatment.”

Working with his own office’s Community Services Unit along with the Morris County Prevention is Key’s Center for Addiction Recovery, Education and Success, the Morris County Department of Human Services and the Mental Health Association of Morris County, Gannon and other key leaders in the program staffed the Hope One van’s public debut on the Green from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.

“This is what we do every day, all day, which is to give people access to services,” said Alton Robinson, lead peer-recovery specialist for the Center for Addiction Recovery, Education and Success, better known as CARES. “What makes this so exciting is that although we have a physical location in Rockaway, we actually have the capacity now to bring our services to the individual instead of having the individual come to us.”

The growing population of addicts, especially people hooked on heroin or other opioid drugs, has become a problem so large that outreach has been identified as an essential element in addressing the problem.

“Personally, I have gotten about 141 people into treatment since August,” said Robinson, adding that the outreach initiative also includes new satellite centers where people can seek help.

Read the full article here: http://www.dailyrecord.com/story/news/2017/04/03/hope-one-van-makes-first-stop-green/99982288/

1. Four Prosecutor’s Office heroin programs heading to Morris towns
   In a continued effort to fight the heroin and opioid epidemic, the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office is hosting four symposiums in several county high schools over the next few weeks.

In Morris County, fatal opiate overdoses jumped from 43 in 2015 to 64 in 2016. There have been at least 23 overdoses so far in 2017, on track to greatly exceed last year’s total.
Prosecutor Fredric Knapp is hoping the ongoing public programs will continue to raise awareness of the heroin and opioid epidemic and show how to combat it.

Prograns will be held in: Montville, Roxbury, Dover, and Kinnelon

Click the link below to read the full story:

http://www.dailyrecord.com/story/news/local/morris-county/2017/04/20/overdoses-rise-opioid-programs-come-morris/100702728/

PLEASE JOIN US TOMORROW!

July 20, 2018 – Rockaway, NJ

LIFE Center Stage, The Community Coalition for a Safe & Healthy Morris, Morris County Stigma-Free and Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey are looking for songwriters to use the power of music to engage the community in this much needed call to action to Knock Out Opioid Abuse.

The Knock Out Opioid Abuse Songwriters Scholarship Contest was developed to help raise awareness of the opioid epidemic that has adversely impacted far too many lives.

They are inviting musicians who are truly passionate about the cause, making a difference with their music or have had this epidemic affect them, their family, friends, co-workers or classmates to submit a song – lyrics and/or musical composition.

Entrants do not have to personally be in recovery to enter.

6 Winners will be chosen to receive:

• Scholarship for a 4-week Anthem Songwriting Workshop taught by hit #1 hit songwriter, Lorraine Ferro on August 7 & 21, September 4 & 18, from 7 – 10pm at Rest Stop Rejuvenate 21 Maple Ave. Rockaway, NJ.

• Two hours of Private Coaching with Lorraine Ferro.
• Performance of their collaborative anthem songs at The Knockout Opioid Abuse Concert on October 4.

At the concert, 1 Grand Prize Winner will be chosen to:

• Record their anthem song in a professional studio
• $500 Prize

To Enter:  Visit LifeCenterStage.org/KOOA-Contest to submit a link to a video of yourself performing your original song, lyrics or musical composition. As well as your personal story (4 minutes max) focused on how this opioid epidemic has affected and impacted your life or why you are passionate about this cause.

The deadline for submissions is July 31, 2018 at 11:59PM EST. This contest is open to all Morris County residents, age 13 and up. Read the Official Contest Rules on LifeCenterStage.org

Knock Out Opioid Abuse Day is the statewide single-day initiative that will mobilize the prevention and treatment communities, community leaders and concerned citizens to raise awareness of the potential for dependency on prescribed pain medicine and its link to heroin abuse rates in our state. Teams of volunteers across the state will visit physician and dental offices, as well as homes in local communities, to distribute this vital information.

PARAMUS, N.J. – Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal today announced the results of an innovative five-county collaboration involving law enforcement, county government, and addiction service agencies to connect individuals suffering from the disease of addiction with vital recovery services through “Operation Helping Hand.”

Attorney General Grewal made the announcement at New Bridge Medical Center in Paramus, where he was joined by Bergen County Executive James J. Tedesco III, New Bridge President and CEO Deborah Visconi, Acting Bergen County Prosecutor Dennis Calo, Morris County Prosecutor Fredric M. Knapp, Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes, Sussex County Prosecutor Francis A. Koch, Acting Union County Prosecutor Michael A. Monahan, and many other leaders and members of law enforcement, government, and the nonprofit and service-provider community.

Attorney General Grewal developed Operation Helping Hand as a new way to combat the heroin and opioid crisis in Bergen County while serving as county prosecutor.  Encouraged by its success there, he is implementing a plan to expand Operation Helping Hand throughout New Jersey.  The strategy involves law enforcement officers arresting users purchasing heroin – or, in some cases, other narcotics – at open-air drug markets.  When the users are brought to the police station or prosecutor’s office for processing on narcotics possession charges, recovery specialists are waiting to connect them with treatment and recovery services.  The charges are not dropped if the user accepts help, but every effort is made to place him or her on the path to recovery.

A total of 177 users were arrested in Operation Helping Hand from June 11 through 15 by law enforcement officers from Bergen, Morris, Passaic, Sussex and Union counties.  Of those 177 people, a total of 148 – or five out of every six users arrested – accepted the offer of treatment or recovery support services.  Only 29 rejected the offer of help.  There were three additional “walk-ins” who were not arrested, but who were offered and accepted help after they learned of the program.  Of the 151 who accepted help, including the walk-ins, a total of 102 accepted treatment – meaning in-patient detox, or in-patient treatment, or intensive outpatient treatment, or medically assisted treatment, or a combination thereof – and the other 49 accepted other recovery support services.  Union County arrested 100 users, with 81 accepting help.  The four northern counties arrested 77 users, with 67 accepting help.

“These results are extraordinary and are a testament to the dedicated work of all who participated in this unprecedented operation in New Jersey,” said Attorney General Grewal.  “While we know some of these heroin users who accepted detox beds or support services will lapse into drug use again, there can be little doubt with these numbers that lives were saved – that heroin users who would have become statistics of the opioid epidemic will instead recover and reclaim their lives.”

“The results of this five-county operation reaffirm my strong belief that Operation Helping Hand is a program we need to implement throughout New Jersey and offer as a model to other states across the country,” Grewal added.  “We can’t arrest our way out of the opioid epidemic, but we have learned that we can, in fact, save lives by making arrests, if we engage in this type of collaboration among law enforcement, government, and the addiction-service community.”

“New Bridge Medical Center recognizes the critical role we play in combating the opioid crisis in our communities,” said New Bridge Medical Center President and CEO Deborah Visconi.  “Being both an expert in addiction medicine and strengthening that expertise with our partnership with Integrity House allows NBMC to be a resource for Bergen County and beyond.  We are committed to providing medical detox and substance abuse treatment as part of the collaborative and innovative effort organized through ‘Operation Helping Hand’ and we are proud to continue this partnership that is saving lives.”

“We are very proud of the Helping Hand model the Attorney General created when he was the Bergen County Prosecutor and that he has encouraged other counties to emulate,” said Acting Bergen County Prosecutor Dennis Calo. “The opioid epidemic in our entire state continues to significantly impact our residents.  However, along with our partners at Children’s Aid and Family Services’ Center for Alcohol and Drug Resources, the County Department of Health Services Office of Alcohol and Drug Dependency, New Bridge Medical Center, the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office, and the many local law enforcement agencies who participate in Operation Helping Hand, we have demonstrated that creative solutions are available, and they work.  This partnership is truly extraordinary, and we believe that it is saving lives.”

“Morris County is proud to have joined this five-county collaboration whose chief aim is to connect those struggling with addiction to the resources they need, and we are excited by the positive results achieved,” said Morris County Prosecutor Fredric M. Knapp. “In light of the staggering toll heroin and opioids have had on our state and nation, we as law enforcement leaders must utilize innovative methods to combat this epidemic.  Operation Helping Hand is one such example we can use.  Engaging peer recovery specialists in Morris County, as done in OHH, can hopefully be a key component in our efforts. Traditional drug interdiction alone is insufficient. Education, particularly for middle school children, and diversion of addicted offenders into drug court can be part of our battle.  Law enforcement is at its best when partnering with the community, and Operation Helping Hand is a promising example of collaboration between law enforcement and the treatment community that saves lives.”

“Operation Helping Hand was a tremendous success in Passaic County because of the efforts of the members of law enforcement and the dedicated recovery specialists who worked together to offer help to those suffering from addiction,” said Passaic County Prosecutor Camelia M. Valdes. “I have seen firsthand the effects of heroin addiction not only to the users but also to those loved ones who witness the horrific consequences of addiction, and the communities that are directly impacted by open-air drug markets.  For many of these users it was a wake-up call; that we in law enforcement will continue our efforts to stop the distribution of heroin, but at the same time offer you hope – hope that you address the addiction through treatment and support of family.  Thankfully an overwhelming majority heeded that wake-up call.  I hope that their path to a new life without addiction has begun through our efforts in ‘Operation Helping Hand.’”

“The multi-county Helping Hand initiative demonstrates some of the best of New Jersey law enforcement,” said Sussex County Prosecutor Francis A. Koch. “It demonstrates not only how we are able to combine resources and work together to help address the substance use disorder epidemic in New Jersey, it allows agencies to work side by side and gain experience and skills from each other.  The Helping Hand initiative provides demonstrative proof that law enforcement wants to help and serve its community members by offering services to end the cycle of addiction.  The success rate of individuals wanting to enter into treatment is nothing short of astounding.  None of this could have been done without the cooperation across all of the involved agencies.  It was an honor and privilege to work on such a worthwhile multi-county operation and Sussex County looks forward to doing additional operations in the future.”

“The outcome of Operation Helping Hand in Union County far exceeded our most optimistic expectations, and we were heartened to know we managed to get so much help to so many people in such desperate need of it,” said Acting Union County Prosecutor Michael A. Monahan. “This result shows what happens when extremely motivated professionals flawlessly execute a well-conceived plan. But more than that, I was struck by the limitless compassion our law enforcement and community partners displayed in dealing with people grappling with addiction.”

The five counties participating in the program were divided into two sectors.  The four northern counties of Bergen, Morris, Passaic and Sussex coordinated their operations with the source city for heroin being Paterson.  Union County conducted separate operations with the source cities for heroin being Newark, Elizabeth, Plainfield and Linden.  In each county, numerous law enforcement, government and addiction service agencies participated.  They are listed below.

In addition, the operation yielded significant information and leads concerning the distribution of narcotics in the targeted areas, which will be used by law enforcement in furtherance of its continuing efforts to disrupt and dismantle individuals and organizations engaged in drug trafficking.

In advance of the operation, law enforcement and designated recovery specialist organizations in each county worked with treatment facilities and other addiction service agencies to arrange the availability of detox beds and other support services.  In addition, county narcotics task forces arranged for additional officers and shifts from partnering law enforcement agencies for the planned days of the operation to conduct the sweeps of open-air drug markets to arrest drug users.

Once processed on a summons, users were offered an opportunity to speak to a recovery specialist – a recovering addict who has been clean and is trained to help users find treatment.  If the user was persuaded to accept assistance, a trained clinician assessed him or her to determine the appropriate level of care and treatment needed.  The clinicians, working closely with recovery specialists and staff from hospitals and treatment centers, then made specific arrangements for treatment.  Law enforcement officers were responsible for transporting the users to treatment facilities.  The Morris County Sheriff’s Office deployed its Hope One van – a mobile unit staffed with a sheriff’s officer, a recovery specialist, and a clinician, who bring recovery services into the field and provide access to treatment facilities.

The sense of urgency behind Operation Helping Hand and other Attorney General initiatives targeting the opioid epidemic is driven by the continued rise in opioid deaths in New Jersey in recent years.  Attorney General Grewal today released new preliminary data on overdose deaths in the first six months of 2017.  The data shows that there were 623 heroin deaths in New Jersey in the first six months of 2017, up from 594 heroin deaths in the first half of 2016, and 415 heroin deaths in the first half of 2015.  That represents a 50 percent increase between 2015 and 2017.  The rise in overdose deaths involving fentanyl was even more dramatic, with 668 fentanyl deaths in New Jersey in the first six months of 2017, nearly double the 337 fentanyl deaths recorded for the same period in 2016, and well over four times the 150 fentanyl deaths recorded in the first half of 2015. (Note: The heroin and fentanyl figures overlap because deaths involving a combination of heroin and fentanyl are counted in both totals.)

In February, Attorney General Grewal announced the creation of a new office dedicated to fighting the opioid epidemic.  The Office of the New Jersey Coordinator for Addiction Responses and Enforcement Strategies (“NJ CARES”) is responsible for overseeing addiction-fighting efforts across the Department of Law & Public Safety and creating partnerships with other agencies and groups similarly committed to implementing solutions to the opioid crisis and drug addiction.  The NJ CARES website provides a real-time snapshot of the state’s opioid crisis and breaks down how each county is being affected.

Attorney General Grewal thanked the following agencies that participated in the recent five-county Operation Helping Hand effort.  The tremendous results of this operation were dependent on the outstanding collaboration among all of these agencies.

UNION COUNTY

Community Partners

Prevention Links

New Bridge Medical Center

County of Union

New Hope Integrated Behavioral Health

Turning Point

Serenity of Summit

Trinitas Hospital

Organization for Recovery

Overlook Hospital

Lennard Clinic

Law Enforcement Agencies

Union County Prosecutor’s Office

Elizabeth Police Department

Springfield Police Department

Westfield Police Department

Berkeley Heights Police Department

Union County Police Department

Cranford Police Department

Fanwood Police Department

Plainfield Police Division

Linden Police Department

Roselle Park Police Department

Garwood Police Department

Rahway Police Department

Kenilworth Police Department

Clark Police Department

Mountainside Police Department

NORTHERN SECTOR: BERGEN, MORRIS, PASSAIC, SUSSEX COUNTIES

Community Partners

Children’s Aid and Family Services, The Center for Alcohol and Drug Resources

Bergen County Department of Health Services, Office of Alcohol and Drug Dependency

Morris County Prevention is Key and its Center for Addiction Recovery, Education and Success (CARES)

Eva’s Village, Inc.

Center for Prevention and Counseling, Newtown, N.J.

Morris County Sheriff’s “Hope One” Mobile Recovery Access Vehicle

Mental Health Association of Essex and Morris Counties

New Bridge Medical Center

New Hope Foundation

Integrity House

High Focus Centers

Eva’s Village Halfway Houses (Men’s and Women’s)

Ambrosia Treatment Center

Retreat at Lancaster

Discovery Institute

Turning Point

Serenity at Summit

St. Clare’s Behavioral Health

Sunrise House, Lafayette, N.J.

Bergen County Law Enforcement Agencies

Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office

Bergen County Sheriff’s Office

Cliffside Park Police Department

Hackensack Police Department

Tenafly Police Department

East Rutherford Police Department

Saddle River Police Department

New Milford Police Department

Haworth Police Department

Westwood Police Department

Norwood Police Department

Fair Lawn Police Department

Lyndhurst Police Department

Oradell Police Department

Montvale Police Department

Mahwah Police Department

Upper Saddle River Police Department

Garfield Police Department

Glen Rock Police Department

Elmwood Park Police Department

Paramus Police Department

Englewood Police Department

Dumont Police Department

Morris County Law Enforcement Agencies

Morris County Prosecutor’s Office

Morris County Sheriff’s Office

Denville Police Department

Mount Olive Police Department

Dover Police Department

East Hanover Police Department

Hanover Police Department

Washington Township Police Department

Florham Park Police Department

Montville Police Department

Morris Township Police Department

Rockaway Township Police Department

Peqannock Township Police Department

Parsippany Police Department

Rockaway Borough Police Department

Passaic County Law Enforcement Agencies

Passaic County Prosecutor’s Office

Passaic County Sheriff’s Office

Bloomingdale Police Department

Clifton Police Department

Haledon Police Department

Hawthorne Police Department

Little Falls Police Department

North Haledon Police Department

Passaic Police Department

Paterson Police Department

Prospect Park Police Department

Ringwood Police Department

Totowa Police Department

Wanaque Police Department

Wayne Police Department

West Milford Police Department

Woodland Park Police Department

Sussex County Law Enforcement Agencies

Sussex County Prosecutor’s Office

Sussex County Gangs, Guns and Narcotics Task Force

Vernon Township Police Department

Hopatcong Borough Police Department

Opioid use in Morris County, and New Jersey has been on the rise in recent times. In Morris County, there have been 53 suspected drug related deaths, as of January 1st. Though this is a 5% improvement from last year, as there were 56 drug related deaths by end of June, this is not a significant difference. It brings about the question of what can we be doing differently vs what are we doing the same?

As of January 1st of this year, there have been over 212,000 opioid prescriptions. Comparatively, in all of 2017, there were 231,400 prescriptions, which was about 10,000 less than 2016. We are moving in the right direction, but at a slow pace. Though decreasing prescriptions does help to decrease the risk of opioid related overdoses, it is important to understand the risks of misusing and abusing opioids. Roughly 27% of people who are prescribed opioids misuse them. 86% of young people who use heroin have used prescription opioids prior. Of those who use opioids, 4-6% use heroin, after.

The risk is there. Being knowledgeable about the risks helps to build protective factors and decrease the fatalities.