Pubdate: Fri, 10 Jul 2015
Source: New Mexican, The (Santa Fe, NM)
Copyright: 2015 The Santa Fe New Mexican
Contact: http://www.santafenewmexican.com/SendLetter/
Website: http://www.santafenewmexican.com
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/695
Author: Margaret Wright

CDC REPORT SHOWS DRUG OVERDEATHS SPIKED IN NEW MEXICO IN 2014

Heroin use and fatal overdoses are on the rise across the U.S.,
especially among young adults and poor people, the national Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention says in a report released this
week. Meanwhile, in New Mexico, where drug overdoses have been a
chronic problem, preliminary data indicate that after a two-year
reprieve, overdose deaths spiked in 2014.

The CDC analyzed vital statistics and results of a national survey on
health and drug use to conclude that heroin-related overdose deaths
across the country surged by a startling 286 percent between 2002 and
2013. At the same time, heroin use has been the rise among most
demographic groups, with use of the drug among adults ages 18 to 25
more than doubling.

State Department of Health spokesman Kenny Vigil told The New Mexican
in an emailed statement Friday that preliminary data on drug overdose
deaths in New Mexico in 2014 show "a substantial increase." However,
he said, the exact number isn't final.

Addiction experts say progress combating high rates of addiction and
overdose deaths in New Mexico remains hindered by a lack of effective
treatment options. Harris Silver, a retired physician who co-chairs
the Bernalillo County Opioid Accountability Initiative, said increases
in heroin use are directly related to rising rates of prescription
opioid painkillers.

Heroin is cheaper than prescription painkillers on the black market,
Silver said, as well as readily available and very potent. "That's the
case nationally, but it's happening here in a bad way," he said.
"Education is the good thing that we're doing, but we're not getting
people treated for opioid use disorder they've developed while they're
using."

According to Department of Health data, prescription opioids accounted
for the largest share of overall drug overdose deaths in New Mexico
since 2006. Drug overdose deaths were consistently below 20 percent
until that year, which also saw a steady rise in the number of
prescriptions for opioid pain relievers. In 2007, the number of deaths
from prescription overdoses overtook those associated with heroin and
other illegal drugs, and by 2011, the CDC ranked New Mexico among U.S.
states with the highest total rates of drug overdose deaths.

One tool to increase patient safety around prescription opioids is the
state's Prescription Monitoring Program, which allows prescribers and
pharmacists to check patients' prescription histories. Vigil said that
"licensing boards require health care providers who prescribe drugs
such as opioids to check the Prescription Monitoring Program for
high-risk patients and provide training on safe prescribing and
monitoring program use."

The initiative has helped, Silver said, "but the problem is that you
get unintended consequences. When doctor-shoppers, overusers and
misusers are detected, they get cut off. And instead of having their
addiction treated as a disease that the provider might have even
caused, the user resorts to using to heroin."

The state's other main initiative for preventing opioid drug overdoses
is based on increasing access to naloxone, commonly known as Narcan.
The drug can be administered as a nasal spray to reverse the effects
of opioid overdose.

Vigil said the Department of Health has worked with the Santa Fe
County Sheriff's Office and a New Mexico State Police district to
train officers in administering naloxone if they're first on the scene
of a possible drug overdose. The Health Department also works closely
with the Board of Pharmacy, Vigil said, and now pharmacists are able
to prescribe naloxone. "Pharmacies are allowed to stock it," he said,
"but only about 10 percent are doing that now."

The director of The University of New Mexico's Center on Alcohol,
Substance Abuse and Addictions, Barbara McCrady, praised the state's
program. "It saves people's lives," McCrady said, "and we've been
ahead of the curve on that compared to other states."

Yet McCrady and Silver said the most essential weapons in New Mexico's
arsenal against opioid addiction - effective treatment options - are
scarce and difficult to access. That dearth of resources comes at a
price we all pay, Silver said. He cited data from the Substance Abuse
and Mental Health Administration that estimated every public dollar
spent on treatment saves $12, diverting funds that otherwise would be
spent on criminal justice and medical aid.

Santa Fe police Capt. Jerome Sanchez has seen firsthand how untreated
addictions can spiral out of control at a high social cost. In 2011,
he worked in the city's Property Crimes Unit, the same year he began
to notice a disturbing trend. "Burglaries, auto theft, shoplifting,
they were all going through the roof.

And every single person we arrested that year for those crimes was an
addict."

Sanchez said when he and other officers in the unit debriefed the
suspects, "They'd tell us, 'If you don't put me in treatment, this is
going to continue.' They'd beg for help."

Santa Fe Mayor Javier Gonzales said the city is lucky to have a number
of resources in place to help people who are ready to move into a
substance abuse program, but increasing the level of substance abuse
resources is key to helping other places cope. "Our current way of
addressing addiction is not working," he said. "This is a health issue
that needs to be addressed, not a criminal issue, and the sooner we as
a country realize that, the better off we'll all be."

Gonzales said he hopes outcomes from the city's Law Enforcement
Assisted Diversion program, otherwise known as LEAD, will help create
a shift in the mindset of state policymakers. Instead of forcing minor
criminal offenders into the criminal justice system, LEAD provides
them with an opportunity to access services, such as addiction
treatment, counseling and housing aid.

While it's still too early to hold up hard data on the program's
outcomes, Sanchez said, anecdotal evidence he has received from
participants and officers indicate it's a success. Of the 38 people
currently participating, none has been rearrested.

"We're not going to rid the community of drugs and addiction, but we
can really reduce it," he said. "We can save lives. We can save
taxpayer money and really get officers back on the street to handle
other priorities rather than arresting a guy with a [heroin] rig and
charging him with a felony. It frees up the criminal justice system
for more serious cases."
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