Maximize public education on dangers of opiate abuse

By now, most everyone on the planet has seen the disturbing photograph out of Columbiana County of two adults slumped over in their car in a stupor from a suspected heroin overdose as a helpless 4-year-old navigates the backseat.

That heart-wrenching photograph taken last month by the East Liverpool Police Department has visually exposed the world to the horrors of opiate abuse and its devastating impact. Despite its chilling imagery, the photograph that has gone viral online has proved invaluable in reflecting the reality that law enforcement officers, judges and drug-treatment professionals witness on a daily basis.

It also served as a stimulus for a countywide drug summit this week in Lisbon at which Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, Columbiana County Sheriff Raymond Stone, state and U.S. legislators, mental-health and public-service agency representatives and others gathered to address the epidemic and propose additional solutions to combat it.

Such comprehensive and cooperative brainstorming should be prescribed in stronger doses as the scourge of heroin and opiate abuse shows no signs of ebbing anytime soon. Deaths from opiate overdoses in the Mahoning Valley, Ohio and the United States continue to increase at a frightening pace. Its victims include individuals from all social strata, all income levels and all age groups.

It’s painfully clear, then, that a comprehensive multi-pronged battle plan must escalate in intensity. Part of that plan involves aggressive campaigns from police and law enforcers at all levels to reduce the supply of the drug. Another key plank involves ensuring adequate and sufficient treatment facilities are available to users. An additional key component of any strategy to reduce opiate consumption must be education about and awareness of the path of destruction toward which opiate abuse too often leads.

At the summit, DeWine said he believes education is crucial to begin turning the tide. The state’s top legal officer proposed that students be taught from kindergarten to 12th grade about the dangers of the drugs, stressing that any material should be “age appropriate” for younger students with a primary message that heroin and opioids lead to addiction, then jail or death.

His proposal merits serious attention by state health and education officials, school administrators and drug abuse counselors statewide. As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report, about 1 in 5 high school students today use painkillers without a prescription and about half of young people who get hooked on heroin used prescription painkillers as a gateway drug.

VALUE OF PUBLIC EDUCATION

The value of public-education campaigns targeted squarely, honestly and powerfully at young people in the classroom and via the mass media cannot be underestimated.

After all, similar campaigns proved effective in substantially reducing the number of young people who get hooked on tobacco and smoking. A 2014 Surgeon General’s Report, “The Health Consequences of Smoking – 50 Years of Progress” explains how coordinated educational campaigns have prevented the initiation of tobacco use and reduced its prevalence among young people dramatically. It’s only logical then to assume that a similar investment of time, money and resources into anti-heroin educational initiatives could yield similar positive results.

Of course, schools and media campaigns cannot alone tame the destructive heroin and opiate beast terrorizing our state and nation. Parents and guardians of children must also serve as responsible role models in guiding young people toward making healthful choices that will affect their bodies and their minds for lifetimes. Above all else, positive parental pressure must trump negative peer pressure as the primary influence in life and death decision-making of young people.

Reinforcement throughout a student’s school career would serve as an added layer of protection. To be effective, as DeWine emphasized, the anti-drug message must be consistent and prolonged.

Such comprehensive awareness campaigns hold promise for a day when images of the despair and devastation of opiate abuse fade from the American landscape.