In Guilford County, opioid deaths – especially in the High Point area – have been all too common in recent years and, on Monday, March 21, the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) reported that that was true across the state.
An average of nine North Carolinian residents a day died from a drug overdose in 2020, the most recent year for which full statistics are available. That constitutes a 40 percent increase over the previous year. (Final overdose statistics for 2021 aren’t yet available.)
NCDHHS Secretary Kody Kinsley blamed the pandemic restrictions as a major contributing factor for the large increase in overdoses in the year COVID-19 hit the state.
“A single life lost to an overdose is a life we should have saved,” Kinsley said. “Stress, loss of housing and loss of employment for those in recovery caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a backslide in our fight against substance use disorders.”
Kinsley added that improving behavioral health services is a “top priority” for NCDHHS and added that the department would call upon community partners in its battle against opioids.
Opioid addiction and opioid overdose deaths have been an incredibly recalcitrant problem in Guilford County, North Carolina and the US. Guilford County and many other states and counties are in the process of settling a massive national lawsuit against opioid makers and distributers. The money from that lawsuit is supposed to be used to address the problem in the county – and the same goes for many other counties all over the country that participated in that suit.
In 2020, over 70 percent of overdose deaths in North Carolina are suspected to have involved “illicitly manufactured fentanyl.” According to state health officials, over 60 percent of overdose deaths involved multiple substances. They said the mixing of opioids with stimulants – like cocaine and methamphetamine – is increasing in the state.
According to the Monday March 18 press release from NCDHHS, “This stark increase during 2020 aligns with the increases experienced nationwide with the nation exceeding 100,000 deaths. In North Carolina, the number of drug overdose deaths — from illicit substances and/or medications — increased by nearly 1,000 deaths, from 2,352 in 2019 to 3,304 in 2020. There were also nearly 15,000 emergency department visits related to drug overdoses in 2020. Provisional surveillance data suggest these increases continued through 2021.”
State health officials also pointed out that both overdose deaths disproportionally affect “historically marginalized populations.”
They also stated that NCDHHS is working hard to reverse the trend. The department is continuing to implement the North Carolina Opioid and Substance Use Action Plan – a strategic plan that aims to prevent addiction, reduce harm from substance use and also connect people to “substance use services, housing and employment support, and to do all of this with attention to equity.”
Some of the state’s actions include:
- Regularly providing free naloxone to syringe services programs, local government agencies, treatment providers and other community-based organizations.
- Setting up 15 mobile health clinics in the past year meant to reach “hard-to-reach areas” to assess clients and provide treatment.
- Funding training for health professionals working in the field on initiatives like syringe services and harm reduction programs, and prescribing medications for opioid use disorder.
- Supporting the Hope4NC helpline (1-855-587-3463), which is available for those who need emotional support, counseling and referrals to community resources.
The lure of the big cash is hard to resist, especially for illegal aliens.
How many lives were saved by Narcan? How many drug addicts had multiple Narcan treatments and they continue to OD? Narcan is just saving them so they can over dose again and again. A high percentage of these over dose addicts don’t work, they steal, rob, scam the elderly and break into homes to support there drug habit while taxpayers foot the bill all the way around. If they want to live judges should send them to mandatory rehab.
I realize that everyone here wants to blame the growth in crime on Liberals and this perception that they are soft on crime but the real driver of growth in crime is the opioid crisis. Similar to the crack epidemic of the 80s and 90s. Drug epidemics drive crime. Increased policing can help reducing the symptoms of increased drug addiction but it can’t slow it down. That requires a far more compassionate response to drug addition that should be funded by the corrupt drug companies to promoted these pills as non-addictive. Which they knew was a lie.
Republicans want to blame liberals as being soft on crime to protect the money that flows to them from the pharma industry in form of campaign and PAC donations.
You don’t have to look farther Than our Democrats for the increases in our Youngest children committing suicide .Then add to that our wonderful President Joe Biden for opening our Southern Border to all illegals, good and bad ( with criminals and terrorist added in for good measure). The Chinese are supplying fentanyl by the truck loads to the cartel and the cartels are forcing some of the illegals to bring it across the border.
The cartel has gotten rich on charging all
Illegals a fee as they are assisting them to our border.They are making more money than several of our larger corporations combined in America.
YES ,the Democrats in charge and they are allowing this destruction to take place before your eyes!!!!! Including the president the Democrats had rather American become third world people than to work with Republicans and fix all problems that Joe and company have thrust on America.
Little Democratic opposition has been had against Joe as he is systematically destroying America.He does not care about Republicans number one but he does not care about Democrats either.We are actually in the same boat,The whole country going down for the third time.Everyone that will read this please get out to vote and vote out all who are ruining and running our America at this time.
If we are so overrun, how come I have never met an illegal, or been rob by an illegal or shot by an illegal…..oh that’s right…..out that come here come to work low paying jobs such as farm labor.
This fear mongering over an immigration issue that has existed for decades is really getting old. Sure Donald reduced some immigration with his cruelty at the boarder where he turned families over the the Mexican cartels but his strategy wasn’t sustainable, just like his was wasn’t functional. We need real reform such as nonlinear allowing illegal crosses to claim asylum.
How is paranoid psychosis working for you as your go-to communications strategy?
How about procecuting doctors, hospitals, and pharmaceutical companies that have pushed this poison for decades now? How about legalize fully all possible treatments for opioid addiction including medical cannibus? As long as big pharma-medical complex is shielded and encouraged by spineless regulators and law makers we will havemail more of the same.
FINALLY…….someone who understands the free market dynamics and consequences of a for-profit Healthcare system. Good luck convincing these Medieval Federalists the Sackler family is the Inevitable product of an unregulated supply/capital driven industry.
Heartbreaking and the real problem, drugs flowing over our southern borders.
Latest opioid manufacturer and dealer via dark web was a 28 year old kid born and raised in Arizona. The raw materials where shiped in from China. But you go ahead and make everything about the boarder because you fear immigrants.
Most people here don’t “fear “ immigrants we and the ones who did it legally just want the ones coming over the border to do it legally that’s all. I think we need immigration rules for people coming from the North who want to live here. When uncle Don gets back in office he and I will talk about that.