Summit at Show Me Center focuses on opioid crisis

Missouri experienced 908 opioid overdose deaths in 2016, a 35 percent increase from the previous year.

That statistic was one of many presented Tuesday at an Opioid Summit at the Show Me Center in Cape Girardeau.

More than 400 people, including first responders, health-care personnel, government employees and others attended the summit.

It was the second of nine such summits scheduled around the state. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services and the Cape Girardeau County Public Health Center hosted the conference.

Jane Wernsman, director of the public-health center, said the goal is to bring awareness to the crisis and spur innovative intervention.

Carlos Vargas-Aburto, president of Southeast Missouri State University, cited statistics showing the number of opioids sold to doctors, pharmacies and hospitals quadrupled between 1999 and 2010.

"That is something to be very concerned about," he said. "It affects our students. It really is affecting everybody."

Dr. Randall Williams, director of the state's health and senior services department, said the governor's Cabinet is working to address the opioid crisis and save lives.

Williams said one woman who dealt with the deadly addiction described her situation as "slowly waiting to die."

Larry Reavis Jr., St. Louis-based assistant special agent in charge with the Drug Enforcement Administration, said nationwide overdoses of all types of drugs killed 64,000 people last year.

"This is a community problem. It is no longer a law-enforcement problem," he said.

Rachel Winograd, assistant research professor at the Missouri Institute of Mental Health at the University of Missouri-St. Louis, discussed the "state of opioids" in Missouri.

"It is complicated; it is complex, and there are no easy fixes," she told the audience.

Statewide, more than two people lose their lives to opioid overdoses every day, she said.

Men account for two of every three deaths, Winograd said.

The problem is most severe in the city of St. Louis and the surrounding area, she said.

Many people become addicted to prescription opioids and move on to heroin, according to Winograd.

Fentanyl, a synthetic heroin, has become an increasing and deadly problem, she said.

Fentanyl is 50 times stronger than heroin, Winograd said.

"It can be made in pill presses," she added.

Winograd said there are medications such as methadone that can be used to treat opioid addiction, but many addicts can't afford them.

Public-health treatment programs are available, but they typically are concentrated in urban areas, she said.

Missouri is receiving $20 million of federal funding to address the opioid problem over the next two years, she said.

Winograd said Missouri needs to focus on a system of care that includes prevention, treatment and recovery.

"People have difficulty, messy lives" that have to be addressed in tackling drug addiction, she said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

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