Affecting everyone from middle school children to grandparents, the opioid crisis has extended throughout the community.
“It’s no respecter of persons,” said DeKalb Drug Coalition Coordinator Lisa Cripps, pointing to the upcoming opioid addiction and prescribing conference slated for March 20 at the DeKalb Community Complex. “It affects every family, every household in some way, from middle school children to grandparents. It touches everybody.”
Cripps is urging concerned citizens to attend the conference which begins with a meal at 5:30 with the conference going from 6 to 8:30 p.m. Dr. Mitchell Mutter is keynote speaker.
“We are in epidemic status here,” Cripps revealed. “We need to increase people’s knowledge of how deep the problem runs.”
Cripps said the issue of opioid addiction comes from several areas. The addiction, she said, often starts from prescribed pain medication given by doctors following surgery or traumatic injury. The person; however, can easily become addicted to the medication, requiring more and more to continue the same effect.
“You have over-prescribing and also drugs being sold on the street,” she said, noting the more common forms of opioids include oxycodone, hydrocodone, and morphine.
Along with the addiction issue, Cripps said a deadly cousin of the opioid crisis is the rise in the use of fentanyl which is sometimes added to street drugs by dealers.
“It’s 50 times more powerful,” she revealed, noting just three grains of fentanyl can be fatal. “It’s a killer.”
During the conference, which will cost $15 for the public and $50 for health professionals who will be getting professional credit for attendance, there will be talk about naloxone, a drug that can be given to an opioid overdose victim that will reverse the effects.
“It’s saving lives and many emergency responders and police officers are starting to carry it,” she said.
At the end of the night, Cripps hopes that people who attend the event will walk away armed with more knowledge about the issue.
“We want to get involved in changing the culture of the community,” she declared, urging the public to attend.
