The Arkansas Department of Human Services (DHS) Division of Behavioral Health Services has received a five-year, $3 million grant to reduce opioid-related deaths by developing a comprehensive prescription drug overdose program.
Opioids are prescribed to treat moderate to severe pain and are more commonly known as oxycodone, hydrocodone and morphine. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid often approved for cancer patients, but like heroin, its illegal manufacture and distribution is on the rise across the country, according to officials with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Administered by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the CDC, the grant funding is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Opioid Initiative, launched in March 2015 and focused on improving opioid prescribing practices; expanding access to medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder; and increasing the use of naloxone to reverse opioid overdoses. The division’s successful grant was modeled after a program by the Benton Police Department. Arkansas is one of 11 states to be awarded this grant.
The division is responsible for ensuring there are available public behavioral health services, including mental health and substance abuse prevention, treatment, and recovery services. It also supports, certifies, licenses, and funds behavioral health providers throughout the state and operates the Arkansas State Hospital, the only state-funded psychiatric hospital, and the Arkansas Health Center, a state-funded nursing home.
“The goal of this program will be to reduce opioid-related deaths,” said State Surgeon General Greg Bledsoe, MD. “The latest data shows 236 Arkansans lost their lives 2013 from an opioid overdose.”
A state-level advisory council will research and recommend best practices for reducing opioid-related deaths and will collect and analyze data to determine the two or three communities with the highest needs. Agencies and organizations within the target communities will implement, sustain, and improve effective overdose prevention and intervention services tailored to their communities.
Key to the success of the program will be replication of an existing Intranasal Naloxone Program developed and implemented by the Benton Arkansas Police Department to significantly increase the ability of first responders to counter the effects of opioid overdose and provide referral to treatment for overdose victims, DHS officials said.
Statistics from the CDC, Arkansas Department of Health, DHS and Community Organization for Drug Education:
• In 2012, Arkansas ranked 8th in the nation for prescriptions of opioid pain relievers
• In 2013, Arkansas had the highest rate of teen prescription drug abuse in the country
• The rate of abuse of pain relievers in highest in ages 12-25 in Arkansas
• Heroin use rates are greater for Arkansas high school seniors than the national rate
• Between 2005-2013, the number of people receiving treatment for illicit drug use in Arkansas was higher than the national average
• Nearly four out of five Arkansans abusing illicit drugs during 2005-2013 never received treatment
• A single day count in 2013 found 5,927 individual enrolled in substance abuse treatment in the state
• Risk factors for adolescent drug abuse include a family history of substance abuse and high risk behavior, family conflict and management problems, and favorable attitudes toward substance abuse
For more information about opioid use and abuse in Arkansas and across the nation, visit cdc.gov/drugoverdose/opioids/index.html.