JACKSON, Wyo. – It's been a few weeks since Wyomingites started listing their New Year's resolutions. So how are they sticking?

One study shows less than 40 percent stick to their goals, and if an addiction is on the list – the success rate is usually even lower.

Ed Wigg is executive director of the Curran-Seeley Foundation treatment center in Jackson. He says beating addiction is a team effort, and he sees success rates upwards of 70 to 90 percent for alcohol and drugs when there is high-quality care and patient dedication.

"We have to help them develop healthy primary relationships with other people and get away from this primary relationship they've established with their drug."

Wigg says treatment is tailored to each patient. It might mean therapy, daily or weekly meetings, a residential program and, sometimes, medications for support.

Substance abuse treatment clinics have been established in every Wyoming county. They charge on a sliding-fee scale and most insurance and Medicaid is accepted, so services are affordable for everyone. A listing of centers is at WyomingWellness.com.

Wigg says treatment for addictions starts out intense, and it can last for years and maybe even a lifetime, with Alcoholics Anonymous meetings or other group support.

"This is just one step in a process. If you stay with the process and continue to do this, the longer you do it, the better chance you have at being successful."

Wigg notes that substance abuse treatment centers receive state funding, and the legislature is looking at cutting funding over the next two years.







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By Troy Pierson / Broadcast version by Mary Schuermann reporting for
the Kent State-Ohio News Connection Collaboration.

As marijuana becomes more mainstream, some legislators want Ohio to join the growing list of states legalizing the drug for recreational use. House Bill 210, which would legalize recreational marijuana, is co-sponsored by Democratic state Representatives Sedrick Denson of Cincinnati and Terrence Upchurch of Cleveland. Their bill would also allow for the expungement of some convictions and for marijuana to be grown at home.

While the bill is unlikely to pass, Denson said, its presence promotes awareness and attracts media attention, so more people can be educated on this topic.

"We have to look at the progressive states that are seeing the benefits and are opening up a whole new industry for business opportunities, and it's working," Denson said. "The sky's not falling, and things are not falling apart in those states. We have got to be progressive and be out there -- I know it's a long haul, and it's an uphill conversation, but the reality is that my responsibility is to put this bill out there and force my colleagues to have that conversation."

With the explosion of new markets as more states legalize recreational marijuana, proponents of legalization believe Ohio will soon follow suit.

While the state legalized marijuana for medicinal use in 2016, high prices for products have resulted in medical card users traveling to such nearby states as Michigan to purchase products at lower prices. This hurts Ohio's medicinal marijuana industry, which has led some legislators and other advocates to encourage the legalization of recreational marijuana in this state.

There was an attempt in 2015 to legalize recreational marijuana in Ohio through a ballot initiative, but the measure failed, with nearly 64% of voters opposed and 36% approving.

If the initiative had passed, it would have monopolized the industry to benefit a small number of investors and companies. Afterward, the state passed the Ohio Initiated Monopolies Amendment, also known as Issue 2, which prevents any new monopolization attempt for future ballot initiatives.

Legalizing marijuana for recreational use in Ohio would lead to a significant expansion of economic growth, said Douglas Berman, the executive director of the Drug Enforcement and Policy Center at The Ohio State University. The emergence of new markets would also allow for an increase in the number of dispensaries in Ohio's major cities, which could strengthen local economies and create jobs. The increase of sales would allow for increased tax revenue for the state as well.

Republican politicians are the main hurdle preventing recreational marijuana legalization through the General Assembly, but this narrative is changing as more Republicans warm up to the idea. Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich approved the passing of medicinal marijuana legislation in Ohio; more recently, U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce, R-Ohio, sponsored a legalization bill in the U.S. House of Representatives in May that would take marijuana off the federal list of controlled substances.

Drug prevention groups, however, continue to advocate for keeping marijuana illegal, highlighting the negative aspects of the drug, such as increased car crashes and accidental ingestion by children. Fran Gerbig, executive director of the Prevention Action Alliance, said Ohioans need to understand the impacts of the recreational industry and how it can affect communities, as legal products offer a higher amount of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) -- the psychoactive element in marijuana -- than products contained when all marijuana was illegal.

"It's important to know that it's not that we are condemning the substance per se; we feel there's not been enough research and that we don't know the true impact of cannabis on the health and wellness of an individual," Gerbig said. "Cannabis currently has a higher THC content, and that is an unknown. It's being cultivated to provide a hallucinogenic effect, and it makes me fearful for the health and safety of individuals."

Recreational marijuana legalization in Ohio will happen at some point within this decade, said Cleveland cannabis lawyer Tom Haren. The question is whether the state will legalize it before the federal government takes the drug off the controlled substances list.

If marijuana is legalized in the state first, it would allow for Ohio-based businesses to be founded and existing businesses to grow without competition from companies outside the state. Once marijuana is legalized at the federal level, however, other companies from out of state can then sell their products in Ohio through interstate commerce.

Also, if the federal government legalizes marijuana before the state does, Ohio could face a number of regulatory problems.

"If marijuana is no longer a controlled substance, it means it is no longer illegal to possess, traffic or distribute and sell it," Haren said. "You still would have within the medical program a highly regulated system, but then you would have a separate unregulated and legal market where even children [for example] could go and buy marijuana. There would be no age requirement, no potency requirement, no testing requirement, no licensing requirement, no background check requirement, no setbacks for schools or churches, public playgrounds [and] libraries. Literally overnight, Ohio could be in a very difficult position if we are not proactive in anticipating the change that is going to come at the federal level."

Legalized marijuana would lead to a series of changes, Berman said, on how the substance is regulated by law enforcement.


This collaboration is produced in association with Media in the Public Interest and funded in part by the George Gund Foundation.

INDIANAPOLIS -- An exhibit at the Indiana State Museum, "FIX: Heartbreak and Hope Inside Our Opioid Crisis," is leaving Indianapolis Sunday and heading to Muncie.

More than 2,200 Indiana residents died from opioid overdoses in 2020, up from just over 1,700 in 2019.

Brian Mancuso, chief officer of engagement for the Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites, said museum curators came together with community partners, from people in recovery to medical experts, to develop an exhibit that leaves people more informed on how to help their own community members who may be struggling with opioid addiction.

"This exhibit really seeks to reduce the stigma around opioid use disorder," Mancuso explained. "And we offer our visitors the opportunity to come in, explore this topic, get a little bit of understanding, get some empathy, and hopefully find out how they can help respond to the crisis."

The multimedia exhibit includes information on the science and biology behind opioid-use disorder and the many paths to recovery, as well as personal stories from impacted Hoosiers.

Mancuso noted it also has historical touchpoints, such as the opioid crisis after the Civil War, and other recent health crises. It opens August 27 at the Minnetrista in Muncie.

Mancuso added it is important the exhibit is interactive and comes at the issue from multiple angles, to give a clear picture of the multifaceted nature of the crisis.

"With every good museum exhibit, it's the start of your journey, not the end of your journey," Mancuso remarked. "You're not going to come out knowing everything. We want to create that sort of potential energy in our visitors so that they go out and want to do a thing."

Health officials say the pandemic exacerbated already high rates of opioid use in Indiana. Groups advocating for people affected by addiction in the state are helping to train first responders and laypeople on how to administer Naloxone, or its brand name, Narcan, a nasal spray that can help reverse the impacts of an overdose while a person waits for emergency medical services.

CHICAGO - Overdose deaths in Illinois rose by more than a quarter from 2019 to 2020, and medical experts are warning that pills not prescribed by a doctor may be counterfeit and could contain deadly levels of fentanyl.

According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a majority of overdose deaths are from opioids and synthetic opioids, and the increase largely is being driven by incidents involving fentanyl, which is 80 to 100 times more potent than morphine.

Dr. Michael Wahl, medical director of the Illinois Poison Center, said one in four of the fake prescription pills seized and tested by the Drug Enforcement Agency contains potentially fatal amounts of fentanyl.

"What you buy on the streets or online is highly likely not to be what you think you're buying," he said, "and these counterfeit pills, they're actually deadly."

Wahl added that with music festivals coming up in Illinois - Lollapalooza begins tomorrow and Riot Fest is in September - he's concerned about concertgoers buying illicit drugs and overdosing. He urged people to exercise caution.

Wahl said Narcan, or Naloxone, is an important tool; it's a nasal spray to be administered right away when someone overdosing is having breathing problems, unusual sleepiness or is unable to respond while they wait for emergency medical services. At some music events, he said, harm-reduction groups such as DanceSafe also will test pills for more dangerous substances such as fentanyl.

"From a harm-reduction standpoint, if you know people are going to be using prescription drugs, always have Narcan available - just in case, if someone does overdose, that you can potentially reverse the effects of the fentanyl," he said. "The other is to call 911."

Wahl said Illinois' Emergency Medical Services Access Law ensures that people can seek help for overdoses without risking criminal liability. DanceSafe, which has been testing pills since 1999, has seen no members or volunteers be arrested for testing pills, nor have users been arrested for having their pills tested, according to the group's website.