skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, September 21, 2023

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Consumer health advocates urge governor to sign bill package; NY protests for Jewish democracy heighten as Netanyahu meets UN today; Multiple Utah cities set to use ranked-choice voting in next election.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The Pentagon wants to help service members denied benefits under "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," advocates back a new federal office of gun violence prevention, and a top GOP member assures the Ukrainian president more help is coming.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

An Indigenous project in South Dakota seeks to protect tribal data sovereignty, advocates in North Carolina are pushing back against attacks on public schools, and Arkansas wants the hungriest to have access to more fruits and veggies.

Opioid Crisis: Free Kits Can Reverse Effects of Overdose

play audio
Play

Monday, January 11, 2021   

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- The public health spotlight is on COVID-19, but the opioid epidemic still is a major priority in Ohio with a continued tragically high number of drug-overdose deaths.

Nearly 4,000 overdose deaths were reported in 2020, but the final number is expected to approach or exceed the 2017 record of 4,854.

One strategy to reduce the number is the distribution of narcan or naloxone.

Linda Smolak, projects manager for Harm Reduction Ohio, said the treatment can reduce the deadly effects of heroin or opioids.

"Nobody deserves to die because they have used drugs for some reason," Smolak insisted. "A lot of those times, those reasons have to do with mental health or physical-health issues or trauma. These are fellow Ohioans, they're people who are valuable and whose lives we want to save."

Because of the pandemic, Harm Reduction Ohio started distributing naloxone kits through the mail with an online request from those who use drugs or concerned friends or family members. The kits are free and available to anyone who lives in Ohio.

While the online distribution has expanded their reach, Smolak said it hasn't been particularly successful in reaching communities of color. She explained it's especially concerning because overdose deaths among Black Ohioans jumped in 2019.

"Overdose death rates were higher in Black communities than in white communities," Smolak observed. "That has not happened before. And so we need to be finding ways to get more narcan into communities of color to make sure those death rates don't continue to rise so quickly. "

Expanding access to naloxone is a matter of public health, as Smolak noted people who request a kit often are connected to syringe exchanges, health clinics or other services that can keep them healthier.

"Those can help to benefit the general-public health by keeping people who use drugs healthier," Smolak contended. "If people who use drugs get sick, whether its with COVID or HIV or anything else, it can spread to the general community."

She added many people who survive a drug overdose ultimately enter recovery, where they get on a path back to being a contributing member of society.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
Among 12- to 17-year-olds nationwide, 2.08 million or 8.33% report using drugs in the last month. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

In the wake of the devastating overdose epidemic in North Carolina, the state's Department of Health and Human Services is stepping up to aid …


Social Issues

play sound

In cities across the globe, including the Michigan city of Midland, various organizations are commemorating International Day of Peace today…

Social Issues

play sound

Georgia's young people could shift the political landscape of the state in the near future. New data from the Brookings Institution indicates that …


According to the EPA, tropical storms and hurricanes have become more intense during the past 20 years.(Adobe Stock)

Environment

play sound

In rural Alabama, where hurricanes and tornadoes are a constant threat, communities often struggle with damage and limited resources for extended …

Social Issues

play sound

A group of West Virginia Democratic delegates is calling for a special session to address West Virginia University's budget shortfall. Del. Evan …

Arborglyphs, or tree carvings, created by Hispanic sheep herders in the Medicine Bow National Forest date back to the early 1900s. (Amanda Castañeda)

Social Issues

play sound

While many Wyomingites of Hispanic descent came from Mexico, there is a lesser-known population from the old Spanish settlements of northern New …

play sound

People in rural America are five times as likely to live in so-called "ambulance deserts," areas far from an ambulance service or station, than those …

Health and Wellness

play sound

The prevalence of Type 2 diabetes is on the rise in Mississippi. About one in seven Mississippians lives with diabetes. Jernard A. Wells, cookbook …

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021