Carbon County's Opiate Task Force has released its plan to combat the overdose epidemic over the next three years, with a focus on improved treatment, education, destigmatization and precautionary measures.

The strategy, which was developed by the University of Pittsburgh based on data provided by the Carbon Monroe Pike Drug and Alcohol Commission, outlines a set of four priorities, plans to address the issues within, time-based objectives, and suggestions for accomplishing the goals."The Carbon County Opiate Task Force is working with the University of Pittsburgh Technical Assistance Center through a grant they have to help coalitions collect overdose data and develop a strategic plan," Jamie Drake, commission executive director, said.The need for a long-term plan that combats the opioid crisis is a dire one.The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report in February that ranked Pennsylvania as the sixth-highest state in terms of overdose deaths in 2015.TreatmentThe first priority aims to increase access and utilization of substance use disorders treatment programs, which includes offering programs to just about anyone who needs help. This can range from establishing care options for youth and adolescents, along with people who are in prison, who are at a greater risk for overdose upon release.The task force wants to have 80 percent of those in treatment educated on medication like Vivitrol by 2019, along with a naloxone follow-up procedure that will connect 80 percent of overdose survivors with treatment by 2020. At the same time, the group is seeking housing support and job training to assist with long-term recovery."By providing increased access to treatment, both drug free and medication assisted, individuals have more options to address their addictions and gain the needed support," Drake said.The most difficult hurdle will be removing the stigma of drug abuse and overdose from the community.The stigmaBy next month, the task force is looking to conduct a survey and create a baseline on overdose stigma in Carbon County. By March of next year, they are seeking the release of a community awareness campaign to educate citizens and curtail assumptions about addiction. A comprehensive education program on addiction and overdose for all school officials is set for January 2019, with the overall goal to eliminate stigma by 2020 through continued efforts."The stigma survey will be initiated in July and is a baseline survey to see where different populations fall so that we can target appropriate interventions and educational programming," Drake said.Increased data sharing among law enforcement, the legal system and treatment options seeks to open up communication between the groups in order to provide better assistance to those who are in the system for drug charges. Along with opioid removal programs, the task force wants to set up treatment, re-entry, and recovery programs to all those who are coming from a jail sentence, and more options for treatment in jail."We are currently working on this, and I feel we have made great strides in this area," Drake said. "We are working collaboratively with the criminal justice system on a whole through our re-entry initiative and continue to meet regularly to see how we can increase our efforts to work together on additional initiatives."EducationLastly, the task force is taking preventive measures by educating doctors, emergency services personnel, law enforcement anyone else who happens to be in contact with those who are at risk of drug abuse or overdose. The goal here is to reduce the prescription of opioids, educate prescribers and medical professionals about prescribing naloxone with opioids,"We currently have pads with drop off location boxes in the county for unused medications and plan to distribute them to the medical community, along with the pharmacies. The Prescription Drug Monitoring Program is an excellent resource to check and see if someone is filling multiple prescriptions for opiates, and our goal is to increase the utilization of the system beyond what is currently required. We hope that local pharmacies and doctors will beginning checking it every time they fill a prescription," Drake said.While the overall mission of the three-year plan is a lofty one, Drake remains confident that the commission can initiate some beneficial changes in the coming years, as long as health care workers, pharmacists, emergency responders and commission employees can accomplish it together."They set the bar high in terms of benchmarking. What it's going to take to achieve most of it is all of the stakeholders working together," she said. "It's all about people getting on board for the mission."