Brunswick on hunt for resources to fight opioid addiction

May 11--BRUNSWICK COUNTY -- In an effort to increase local resources for opioid addiction, members of the Brunswick County Opioid Addiction Task Force have gone straight to Gov. Roy Cooper.

A group including Superior Court Judge Ola Lewis, Sheriff John Ingram and Don Flattery, FED UP Coalition policy chair, signed a letter requesting the governor declare the opioid addiction crisis in the state a public health emergency.

Flattery said the declaration of a public health emergency could result in additional funds or grants that could be used to help combat the problem.

"Oftentimes when a state declares an emergency, it allows them to free up already appropriated resources that may not have been fully expended for another purpose," Flattery said. "Not unlike hurricane emergencies, the state and the federal government can then deploy resources where they feel the most need."

The letter cited several statistics related to opioid and heroin addiction in the state and Brunswick County, noting that the state saw a 47 percent increase in heroin overdose deaths from 2014 to 2015 and a 27 percent increase in overdose fatalities from 2010 to 2015 in Brunswick County.

Other states, including Virginia, Maryland and most recently Florida, have already declared opioid addiction a public health emergency.

In Virginia, where Flattery worked at the county, state and national levels to find solutions to the opioid crisis, Flattery said the declaration of a public health emergency allowed the state to expand its policy to allow third party access to naloxone, an opioid overdose reversing drug that in the past has largely been used only by emergency management services and law enforcement.

"By expanding that in Virginia, it allowed any pharmacy in the state to provide access to that drug to citizens, particularly those with loved ones who have an addiction, without prescriptions," he said.

The federal government recently awarded $485 million in grants to help states deal with opioid addiction, of which North Carolina will receive $15.5 million. Lewis said that sum is "simply not enough" for combating the statewide opioid crisis.

While funds coming from the state could be used to expand access to drugs used to treat opioid addictions, having additional funds generated by declaration of a public health emergency would allow Brunswick County to invest in other solutions.

"We have issues of transportation in Brunswick County, we need transitional housing, we need inpatient beds, we need providers who can provide medically assisted treatment," Lewis said. "Our needs are very great."

President Donald Trump recently appointed Cooper to a national commission tasked with fighting opioid abuse, which Flattery believes will give the state public health emergency request a "fair hearing."

Flattery said the local task force is developing an action plan for dealing with the opioid problem locally, which they will be presenting to county commissioners. The task force chose to deliver the letter requesting a public health emergency before taking it to commissioners due to the urgency of the situation, Flattery said.

"We'll develop an action plan for county commissioners to consider because it may require additional resources in addition to the state resources that may be coming," Flattery said.

Flattery, who lost his only son to opioid addiction, said the epidemic is affecting people from all walks of life and more needs to be done to handle the situation.

"This thing is not going to go away quickly," he said. "We're going to be dealing with it for a long time."

Ingram was not available for comment.

Reporter Makenzie Holland can be reached at 910-343-2371 or [email protected].

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