County Commission | The Magazine July 2019 | Page 10

FROM THE COVER
Total Opioid Overdose Deaths by Type of Opioid in Alabama, 1999-2017
430
376
323
269
215
161
108
54
0
1999
2001
Heroin
Other Opioids
2003
2005
Methadone
2007
Other synthetic narcotics
2009
2011
Other and unspecified narcotics
2013
2015
2017
All opioids (Total)
Source: NACo (Note: This graph shows the opioid overdose deaths by type of opioid for all counties in Alabama that have these data available.)
These groups foster community
collaboration and can help with
securing resources and coordinating
services.
WHAT DATA IS
ESSENTIAL FOR
UNDERSTANDING
THE PROBLEM IN A
PARTICULAR COUNTY?
A
Each county across the country
faces its own unique challenges.
It is important for county
leaders to examine the details of the
opioid crisis in the communities
they serve, as well as to identify
the socioeconomic factors that are
allowing this crisis to spread more
easily. County leaders can examine
opioid prescription rates in their
county using data from the Center
for Disease Control and Prevention’s
(CDC) Opioid Prescribing Rate
Maps. They can work with local
health and law enforcement agencies
to identify specific neighborhoods
and areas that have higher levels of
drug activity, then target suppliers in
that area. Counties can also use data
10 | JULY 2019
from the CDC’s WONDER Online
Database to identify the number of
opioid overdose deaths in the county
and the type of substance that is
causing the most overdose deaths.
As for the socioeconomic factors,
NACo’s County Explorer (http://
Explorer.NACo.org) has county-by-
county data to analyze income levels,
education levels, labor force growth,
health and other indicators that can
help county leaders better understand
how to curb the epidemic. And
finally, the Alabama Department of
Public Health is involved in a Data
Driven Prevention Initiative around
opioid abuse. More details can be
found at www.alabamapublichealth.
gov/pharmacy/ddpi.html.
THE REPORT
RECOMMENDS
A TONE OF
COMPASSION IN LOCAL
CONVERSATIONS
ABOUT OPIOIDS. WHY
IS THAT IMPORTANT?
A
In many communities,
the stigma associated with
addiction encourages silence,
often for fear of punishment.
Such fear can prevent people from
seeking help for their addiction,
and the stigma can derail efforts to
place treatment and services in areas
of the community where people
most need them. County leaders
can break the silence, set a tone of
compassion and encourage solution-
oriented discourse.
On the justice side, the
incarceration of people who are
addicted to opioids has created a
situation where many jails — most
of them operated by counties —
become de facto detoxification
centers. Nationally, 63% of sentenced
jail inmates have a substance abuse
disorder. Local law enforcement and
corrections officials play a key role
in not only disrupting the supply
chain of illicit opioids but also
helping individuals begin the recovery
process. Often, an encounter with
law enforcement or a jail booking is
the first time a person is identified
as having an addiction. County