Police, courts, hospital and associations unite to fight drug addiction | News, Sports, Jobs

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News photo by Julie Riddle James Stevens, left, project associate at the Northern Michigan Opioid Response Consortium, instructs Brendan Maroney, pastor of Shoreline Church in Alpena, on installing a naloxone kit at the church last month.

NAFTA – Stopping drug addiction before it starts and rehabilitating people addicted to drugs can help prevent widespread drug addiction and reduce crime and the number of health emergencies in our community, northern public health officials say -East Michigan.

That’s why local law enforcement, healthcare providers and non-profit organizations are teaming up to tackle drug addiction by providing various programs and treatments in the area. From a place to live away from other drug addicts to treat overdoses to the listening ear of someone who has battled drugs, large sectors of the community are working together to help people get away with it. clean and stay that way.

Such programs are prominent in northeast Michigan, where the rate of drug overdose drug arrests and drug-related hospitalizations exceeds the statewide rate, state data shows. . Statistics like this hurt the entire community, users and non-users alike, by dragging down the economy, putting our neighborhoods at risk and increasing health care costs.

Local police, courts and health officials say they can’t handle the task alone, and residents need to get involved and support those battling drug addiction.

One of the best ways for residents to do this is to view drug addicts as someone battling an illness, rather than a weak or bad person, said Jill Foco, care manager and counselor at the Sunrise Center, a rehabilitation center in Alpena.

News photo by Julie Riddle At the Alpena County Courthouse annex last month, 88th District Court Judge Thomas LaCross discusses the impact of drug addiction and abuse on the community.

Foco, who has overcome his own alcohol addiction, said one of the hardest things drug addicts face is the stigma attached to them.

“No one wakes up one day and says, ‘Oh, I think I’m going to be an alcoholic or a drug addict,'” she said. “It doesn’t happen like that. ”

PUBLIC HEALTH

The region’s healthcare community has many tools to combat drug use.

Most emergency first responders, for example, now wear Narcan, which treats opioid overdoses. The emergencies also keep the drug in stock and some doctors prescribe it to users to save themselves at home.

News photo by Crystal Nelson Jill Foco, a former alcoholic and now a care manager and counselor at the Sunrise Center, works at her desk earlier this month.

District 4 Health Department, which serves Alpena, Presque Isle and Montmorency counties, collects used needles to prevent them from piling up in the community, where they could injure others. . The District 2 Health Department, which serves Alcona County, provides clean needles to stop the spread of communicable diseases, such as HIV or hepatitis, which can spread among drug addicts who share needles .

MidMichigan Health, the Midland-based group that owns Alpena Hospital, has complied with state regulations, first adopted in 2018, that crack down on the way doctors prescribe opioids, Marissa said. Palmer, director of quality and patient safety for the hospital group.

Palmer said the hospital has also developed a toolkit for primary care physicians so they can implement changes in their own practices.

One policy requires physicians to check the Michigan Automated Prescription System to ensure that patients do not receive multiple prescriptions from multiple physicians. Palmer said doctors are now required to tell patients about the dangers of opioid drugs.

Although the method has its detractors saying it is simply trading one addiction for another, Palmer said northeast Michigan needs more options for prescribing drugs that reduce the urge to use. drug.

News photo by Julie Riddle James Mida, a resident of Alpena, talks about drug addiction at Shoreline Church in Alpena last month.

Doctors at Alcona Health Center and Freedom Recovery Center can prescribe such drug-assisted treatments.

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LAW ENFORCEMENT

Police continue to step up efforts to thwart drug traffickers, but police officials say they also understand that drug prevention must remain a high priority.

For decades, local police departments have integrated drug prevention programs into schools through Drug Abuse Resistance Education, or DARE, programs.

News photo by Crystal Nelson Kathy Freel, clinical supervisor at the Sunrise Center, spoke earlier this month about substance abuse from her desk at the facility.

The Michigan State Police Angel Program allows some people to seek addiction help without fear of arrest, and police lobbies serve as collection sites for unused drugs to keep those pills from falling between bad ones. hands.

Programs such as the Hidden in Plain Sight traveling exhibit teach parents about the signs of drug use and how to talk to their children about it. The trailer is designed like a typical teenage bedroom and offers parents a chance to learn to spot signs that their child may be involved in illegal or unhealthy behavior.

A poster campaign led by the Huron Undercover Narcotics team aims to reach tween and teenage girls to encourage them to value themselves enough to avoid making choices that would hurt them in the future.

HUNT’s recently revamped website includes links to local resources for people with addictions.

AVAILABLE TREATMENTS / PROGRAMS

News photo by Julie Riddle Brendan Maroney, left, talks to an Alpena man recovering from drug addiction outside Shoreline Church in Alpena last month.

Recent efforts have complemented the work of some long-standing drug control programs – such as the Alpena Drug Court, which offers treatment instead of jail, the 35-bed Sunrise Center and Rehab Center. support groups such as Narcotics Anonymous and cult recovery services. at Shoreline Wesleyan Church near downtown Alpena.

Over the past two years, several agencies and individuals in Northeast Michigan have secured grants, added staff, and taken new approaches to support people trying to break their addiction.

Two years ago, not many people in Alpena used peer recovery trainers to help them fight addiction. Today, many qualified coaches – themselves addiction survivors – are integrated into several organizations in the Alpena region to advocate and support people with substance use disorders.

A northeast Michigan chapter of Families Against Narcotics, which provides support and information to people with loved ones affected by drug addiction, began in June.

Catholic Human Services’ Up North Prevention initiative provides police vehicles, schools, prisons and others with naloxone, a drug that can stop fatal opioid overdoses.

The Northern Michigan Opioid Response Consortium, which coordinates addiction-related health care facilities and provides training and services in 16 counties in northern Michigan, has installed safety kits for the distribution of naloxone at three locations in Alpena last month.

Leaders of the Alpena Recovery Alliance are working to introduce more recovery housing, also known as transitional housing or “sober living houses,” in northeast Michigan. Many drug addicts struggle to stay sober because they have no other place to live except other addicts who have not quit.

James Mida, an Alpena resident who is still struggling with drug addiction after 21 years of recovery, called Alpena the most welcoming recovery community he has encountered.

“They say a person can’t tell the difference,” Mida said. “But here in this a person can do it.”

Journalist Julie Riddle contributed to this report.

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