‘The prevention side stops fuel to the fire’

Officials at town hall meeting discuss the opioid problem

One of Tiffany Dorsey's past patients began using opioids at 11 years old.

Dorsey is an outpatient addictions program supervisor for Community and Family Resources in Fort Dodge.

She helped the boy with opioid addiction when he was 15.

"I looked at this 15-year-old and I thought how did you get ahold of what you got ahold of and how did no one see that by now," Dorsey said during a town hall meeting on opioids Wednesday night inside the city council chambers of the Fort Dodge Municipal Building.

She added, "It's hard to look at a 15-year-old and think you are already this far into addiction at this stage in your life."

That patient is just one of millions who battle opioid addiction in the United States, according to Peter Komendowski, president of the Partnership for a Drug Free Iowa.

An estimated 175 Americans are dying every day from overdoses, Komendowski said.

Although there are far fewer opioid-related deaths in Iowa compared with the nation, the number of opioid admission treatments and emergency room visits are increasing, according to Komendowski.

He said the peak in Iowa could be five or seven years away. For that reason, he said, "We can mitigate the severity of that epidemic."

One program in particular that he believes will make a difference is the Prescription Monitoring Program.

The PMP tracks prescriptions from the pharmacy to patients.

"We like the prescription monitoring," Komendowski said. "They will be able to see anomalies."

Webster County Sheriff Jim Stubbs said PMP should make it more difficult to abuse opioids.

"I can't go to the doctor in the next town and get the same prescription again," he said.

Stubbs said there hasn't been very many prosecuted cases in Webster County in terms of opioids such as heroin.

"It's a little more prevalent in eastern Iowa," he said. "Ohio has the worst cases of use of any state at the moment."

Two times a year, Webster County offers the Drug Take Back program, which is another way to eliminate prescription drugs.

Take Back events allow people with unused or expired prescription medication to properly dispose of them.

The drugs are placed in a box and incinerated.

"I've had our prescription box for a year now and out of that box alone I have disposed of 120 pounds of medication," Stubbs said.

Komendowski said in general opioids should be used for short periods of time.

"No opioid cures pain," he said. "It masks your sensitivity to that pain."

He said the longer the drug is used, the chance of addiction increases.

"Even past four, five, six days your risk factors of addiction goes up," Komendowski said.

Iowa Army National Guard Master Sgt. Greg Pliler, of the Midwest Counterdrug Training Center, added, "I've heard the statement, 'we can't arrest our way out of this problem.' That's absolutely true for any substance abuse problem."

Komendowski said there's no easy way out of the opioid epidemic, but raising awareness does help.

"The prevention side stops the fuel to the fire," he said.

Dorsey added, "PMP will be a huge part of this. Education, community awareness, and collaborating together."

Steps to slow opioid misuse

• Increase prescriber use of the Prescription Monitoring Program

• Reduce opioid prescribing to prevent misuse

• Interventions for Iowans misusing or addicted to opioids

• Enhance medication assisted treatment for opioid addicted Iowans

*Peter Komendowski, president of the Partnership for a Drug Free Iowa

Some statistics

• Every day in the United States, 144 people die from drug overdoses -- 91 are from prescription and non-prescription opioids

• 33,091 people died from overdosing on opioids in 2015

• In 2015, 2 million people had prescription opioid disorder

*Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2016