LIMA — The bad news is the heroin and opioid epidemic has not hit its peak, which is projected to take place in two years.
The good news is a team of hundreds of people from the community are dedicated to tackling the problem and helping people addicted.
On Friday, the first-ever Heroin Epidemic Leadership Project summit was held in Lima to discuss the problem and push for more treatment options. Police, a sheriff’s deputy, hospital officials, former addicts, a doctor, judge, paramedics and many others from agencies offering services and treatment gathered for the summit.
“Each of you represent a different army,” said Damian Tibbs, a pastor at New Life Christian Ministries, where the summit was held. Tibbs also is a deputy with the Allen County Sheriff’s Office.
The summit started with its chief organizer, Stephanie Jones, talking bluntly about her addiction and nearly five years of remaining clean. She had brain surgery and was on a morphine pump for three days. She was dropped down to Percocet, an opioid-based pain medication and sent home.
She got hooked and could not live without Percocet.
“It became a normal,” she said.
When her doctor refused to give her more, she, like many others who get hooked on pain medicines, turned to the streets. She found the drug there and began taking a lot more than originally prescribed.
She was a full-blown addict. Her husband locked her in a bedroom with a padlock for five days, only allowing her out to use the bathroom. The withdraw symptoms were horrible, but she made it through and remains clean.
She said the options for services are limited in Lima and surrounding counties.
“If it was not for my husband locking me in bedroom, I would not be here,” she said.
Allison Mort, a supervisor with Lima Allen County Paramedics, told the group about people they respond to having an overdose. The agency has handled 140 calls to treat 97 people, some more than once, in the past year. Many mix heroin with other drugs, and that often stops a person from breathing.
“They mix drugs, and they do not realize what damage it causes,” She said.
Mort told the group about Narcan, which can reverse the overdose from opioid-based drugs and heroin. She said it saves lives but reminded people they need to call 911 to get the person help. Narcan may need to be administered in multiple doses, she said.
Narcan is available in many police cars in Allen and surrounding counties. It’s also available without a prescription at Walgreens and CVS pharmacies and some insurance programs cover it. The most affordable method and easiest to administer is a nasal spray at $51, she said.
Mort also told the group about various treatment programs.
Michael Schoenhofer, the executive director of the Mental Health and Recovery Services Board, said the community has not experienced anything like the heroin and opioid epidemic. He compared it to the deadly flu pandemic of a century ago.
“This epidemic is not only overwhelming families, it’s overwhelming the treatment system,” Schoenhofer said. “This is a community health problem. It is a crisis.”
More than 600 people have sought help through Schoenhofer’s agency and those who work to help people are in a fast-paced world that is changing to try to deliver the best help possible, he said.
The summit was an open discussion with people in the audience participating in a town hall-like atmosphere. One man in the audience told the group he battled an addiction to Suboxone, an opioid-based drug.
“I lost all my friends when I got clean,” he said drawing applause from the group.
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