State grant aids opioid fight in Washington County
At a May 2016 ceremony the Washington County District Attorney’s Office and the Washington Drug and Alcohol Commission recognized 46 first responders for their efforts in saving victims from overdose by using Narcan, an antidote used to counteract effects of heroin and opioid drugs. Recently, the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency awarded the Washington Drug and Alcohol Commission a $148,512 grant will cover treatment with a non-opioid blocker, Naltrexone, for non-violent addicts incarcerated in the Washington County Correctional Facility.
The opioid crisis has drawn its share of attention from authorities in Washington County, where the state House Majority Policy Committee held a hearing in February at the invitation of state Rep. Bud Cook, R-Coal Center. Since then Washington Drug and Alcohol Commission received a $148,512 grant from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency to cover treatment for non-violent addicts incarcerated in the Washington County Correctional Facility with a non-opioid blocker called Naltrexone.
Washington County is moving ahead in a new direction in its bid to tackle drug and alcohol abuse, with a grant awarded by the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency.
Washington Drug and Alcohol Commission Executive Director Cheryl Andrews said the $148,512 grant will cover treatment for non-violent addicts incarcerated in the Washington County Correctional Facility as well as the administration of a Naltrexone injection upon release from the jail.
“Early on, we recognized that we had two main groups of people who were being disproportionately affected and dying due to the heroin/opioid epidemic that is sweeping our nation,” Andrews said in a statement announcing the grant. “Those two groups are people who have recently left residential treatment and people who were re-entering the community from jail.
Naltrexone is a non-opioid blocker that will stop the effects of opioids and alcohol for approximately 28 days. Andrews said Alkermes, the manufacturer who markets the product under the brand name Vivitrol, agreed to provide the first injection free of charge to the inmates.
After that initial injection, inmates will be monitored by the Washington County Adult Probation Office for compliance with ongoing medication and concurrent treatment appointments.
”This program will better protect some of those most vulnerable to an overdose while increasing their odds of experiencing lasting change,” Andrews said.
“We have to break the cycle,” Washington County District Attorney Gene Vittone said. “Most of the inmates that we deal with are addicted to controlled substances. We cannot incarcerate them all.”
Andrews said the PCCD grant is the first to be sought by the Washington County Opioid Task Force, comprised of members of the criminal justice community, health care professionals, county agencies, commissioners, and faith-based groups to battle the heroin/opioid epidemic in Washington County.
“We’re trying to develop a strategic plan for a three-year period to deal with the opioid crisis in Washington County,” Vittone said. We’ve formed a coalition, including health care institutions, drug and alcohol treatment, the courts, police, political leaders, my office, probation and parole, (and Children and Youth Services).
The group has met every two to three weeks since November under the coordination of Dr. Lynn Mirigian of the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy. The district attorney said various subcommittees are working to bring under one umbrella all the efforts to tackle the opioid crisis.
Andrews and her commission thanked Vittone and state Rep. Brandon Neuman, D-North Strabane Township, for their assistance in preparing and shepherding the grant application through the PCCD review process.
“Brandon has been a great partner since we started the initiative,” Vittone said, noting the understanding Neuman gets because his wife is a pharmacist.
PCCD spokesman Matthew Leonard said the grant was one of eight awarded from among 17 Substance Abuse Education Demand Reduction fund Category 1 applicants at a March 8 Harrisburg meeting of the state commission.
“This is an extremely competitive grant,” Vittone said. “(Neuman’s) assistance was vital.”
In all $940,772 was awarded, including a pair of $150,000 grants to the Armstrong-Indiana-Clarion Drug & Alcohol Commission and United Way of Laurel Highlands for the Cambria County Drug Coalition. Other grants went to entities in Berks, Blair and Bucks counties and the Lehigh Valley.
Vittone said legislative initiatives have to be taken, such as the Good Samaritan initiative, which provides protection to witnesses to drug overdoses who call for help, and the reimposition of mandatory minimum sentences.
State Rep. Bud Cook, R-Coal Center, who brought the House Majority Policy Committee to Donora Feb. 13 for a hearing on the opioid crisis, called the grant “great news in our fight against the drug crisis in the Mon Valley.”
Cook said there have been other developments since the Feb. 13 hearing.
“Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Secretary Cindy Dunn recently toured the (49th Legislative) District to see the many opportunities we have to improve the quality of life in our region,” Cook said. “Improving the recreational opportunities will provide residents of all ages with healthy alternative activities as a way to prevent and cure addiction.”
Cook said the gathering in Donora prompted EMS personnel and first responders who shared their story of battling addiction problems.
”In one case (first responders were) returning to the same address as many as four times in one day for overdoses,” Cook said.
In its aftermath the attention brought by the House Republicans to Donora brought out others wishing to share personal experiences with the disease of addiction.
”One young lady was very passionate with telling her story, another was a former informant,” the 49th District lawmaker said. “Sharing these stories serves as both a warning and providing hope that one can avoid and overcome their challenges.”
Cook admitted that hearing from others would be useful, such as doctors or representatives of the pharmaceutical industry.
“I’m currently looking into funding for a test market for our district and region that would address a way to bring technology to track and project current and future data regarding the drug crisis,” Cook said. “To our knowledge this approach has never been brought to bear as a tool to assist all involved in this battle.”
William Josko of IBM raised the topic of technology at the hearing conducted in Donora by Cook and House Majority Policy Committee Chairman Kerry Benninghoff, R-Centre County.
“Opioid abuse is one of several real world problems to solve by applying enabling technologies and analytics,” said Josko, United States public safety practice leader for state and local government and education in IBM Global Business Services.
“Big Data is staggering, coming at us in what we call the 4-Vs, volume, variety, velocity, and veracity, and with it comes numerous complex management and analysis issues,” Josko said. “But it also affords us an incredible opportunity for the additional discovery of clues and indeed, answers to questions we did not even know yet to ask, and further, what is data trying to tell us.”
Josko went on to say an opportunity is at hand in both public and private sectors to help the lives of so many affected by the opioid crisis.