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Friday marks International Overdose Prevention Day, a global event held on August 31 each year to raise awareness of overdose and reduce the stigma of a drug-related death. As Co-Chairs of the Heroin and Opiate Addiction Task Force, we want to acknowledge the grief felt by all who are remembering friends and family who have died as a result of drug overdose and we join you in mourning. We also want to recognize the commitment and actions that many in our community have taken and continue to take to address this epidemic.
Families and community members are safely disposing of unused and expired medication – including prescription painkillers. We now have 110 secured drop boxes across King County. In the first year of operation, the Secure Medicine Return Program collected over 39,000 pounds of medication.
Over 8,000 naloxone kits were made available in 2017 by Task Force members to law enforcement, treatment providers and the community to reverse the effects of overdoses.
And we are making important progress on treatment availability. We have improved access to Medication Assisted Treatment – the gold standard for opioid use disorder. Medications like methadone and buprenorphine work well for opioid withdrawal and long-term recovery—saving lives. We have worked to reduce barriers to treatment including eliminating the waitlist for methadone treatment and, in partnership with several community sites around the county, we are offering greater access to buprenorphine. If you know someone who may benefit from treatment, visit https://www.warecoveryhelpline.org/.
But we still have a long way to go. As of today, 196 people have lost their lives to drug overdose this year. (Read more about recent overdose data.)
Please join us this week in thanking those on the front lines of this epidemic who are providing services and support for people with substance use disorder in our community: families, friends, first responders, medical professionals, treatment providers, educators and especially, individuals in recovery helping others. We encourage you to participate in one of several community events this week to show your support.
In solidarity-
Dr. Jeff Duchin and Brad Finegood- Co-Chairs of the Heroin and Prescription Opiate Addiction Taskforce
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