Pubdate: Mon, 27 Jul 2015
Source: Albuquerque Journal (NM)
Copyright: 2015 Albuquerque Journal
Contact:  http://www.abqjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/10

GO FOR ROOT OF DRUG PROBLEM

New Mexico has a nasty habit of landing at or near the top of the 
list of states with the highest drug overdose death rates, and the 
state Health Department isn't making any headway toward reversing 
that trend. Despite some recent efforts to lower that statistic, our 
state still has the second-highest number of per capita overdoses in 
the nation.

While the department has made progress in defining the problem and 
identifying what should work, the numbers are not dropping 
consistently. In fact, overdose deaths hit an all-time high last year.

While heroin might be the first drug we associate with overdoses, 
state epidemiologist Dr. Michael Landen points out that prescription 
opioids - narcotic painkillers such as hydrocodone and oxycodone - 
are responsible for nearly half of the state's overdose deaths.

To address that, state health officials are currently focusing on two 
programs - both of which must be improved upon to even make a dent.

The state's prescription drug monitoring program makes it possible 
for doctors, nurses, dentists and other practitioners authorized to 
prescribe opioids to review a patient's use of controlled substances 
by visiting a website.

And in 2012, the state required its seven licensing boards - medical, 
osteopathic, nursing, dental, podiatry, optometry and midwifery - to 
develop rules that require those practitioners to check the database 
before prescribing opioids for certain patients.

But in 2014, prescribers checked the records of just 56 percent of 
patients who received at least three months' worth of opioid 
painkillers. Although that's up from 50 percent in 2013, steps need 
to be taken to ensure it gets closer to 100 percent. Consistency in 
the rules would contribute to that. The Health Department also is 
encouraging widespread use and availability of naloxone, a drug that 
prevents overdoses by reversing the effects of opioids on the brain 
and respiratory system. Last year, naloxone was used successfully in 
900 cases, Landen said. The department is urging all law enforcement 
agencies to distribute naloxone kits to its officers and asking more 
pharmacies to stock it.

But naloxone does not reverse overdoses caused by nonopioid drugs 
like cocaine - which was responsible for 111 overdose deaths last 
year - methamphetamines, or benzodiazepines, such as Xanax or Valium.

While the website and naloxone can help save the lives of drug 
abusers, neither attacks the root of the problem - our seemingly 
insatiable appetite for drugs, both legal and illicit. Maybe these 
efforts will show better results in the future. In the meantime, it 
is imperative that state health officials put the education and 
prevention sides of the equation in the forefront.

Each person who chooses not to abuse a drug is one less person that 
doctors will need to check on, and one less person who will ever need naloxone.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom