People struggling with heroin addiction often don't know who to turn to for help, and treatment isn't readily available for anyone in need, according to panelists discussing Alabama's heroin epidemic at an event last week.
The panel included recovering heroin addicts, affected family members, substance abuse experts, treatment specialists and law enforcement officials. They addressed several hundred people at WBHM's Issues & Ales event and answered dozens of questions submitted by audience members.
Some of the questions they addressed:
- What is a misconception the public has about heroin in our area, and what are the ramifications of that misconception?
Brent Bonham, a recovering addict who helps addicts achieve sobriety: "People can't believe heroin is an issue here, and they have no understanding of what it is." Because of that unawareness, addicts have nowhere to turn. "When I was strung out on heroin, I didn't know where to go, who to ask or who to talk to."
Beth Bachelor, CEO of Fellowship House Recovery Services: The public needs to recognize the role that prescription drug use plays in addiction. "A lot of drugs come into the community legally... As a nation and a community, we've been lulled into some sense of security with pharmaceuticals."
- What do people in treatment programs need that they're not getting elsewhere?
Foster Cook, director of UAB substance abuse programs and the Jefferson County Community Corrections Program: We need to extend insurance coverage to those previously uninsured and expand publicly available treatment options. A major problem now is that "heroin is a lot cheaper than treatment is."
Karen Cropsey, associate professor in UAB's Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurobiology: "We need to stop treating addiction as a moral failure and start treating it as the medical problem that it is. The expansion of Medicaid would go a long way to help level the playing field in Alabama."
- What is the most realistic way we can respond to this?
Cropsey: Making treatment widely available to everyone.
Bachelor: Communication with one another and the public about the severity of the problem. "Money for treatment and advocacy for treatment aren't coming up because it's happening to a minority of people at a time when they're least able to advocate for themselves."
Bonham: A state-run, instant-access detox facility is desperately needed.
- What is your advice for parents of addicts?
Bachelor: "You have to realize that there's going to be a small percentage of us with a predisposition to addiction. All the prevention in the world isn't going to stop all of us. It's a part of the human condition."
Bonham: "I think there needs to be a really open dialogue with your children."
- Are we fighting the same battle over and over again with different drugs, or is the heroin epidemic any different?
Mark Wilson, chief executive of the Jefferson County Department of Public Health: "There will always be something, and heroin is the drug du jour. Heroin is different in that we are seeing so many deaths, and it's so cheap. This will be replaced by something else. That's why I think for us as a community we should think about broader strategies of drug abuse and addiction."
- I live in Ensley. What can neighborhood groups do to help law enforcement disrupt heroin in neighborhoods?
David Luke, who has dealt with narcotics for the Birmingham Police Department since 1999: Talk to police officers, and tell them what's going on where you live. "We try to focus on the dealers. We can't lock up everybody who's addicted to heroin."
- What are the typical demographics of a heroin user in Alabama?
Joyce Vance, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Alabama: Upper middle class, white and well-educated is the majority demographic. She emphasized that the effort to address heroin use is not driven by the demographics, but by the fact that so many people are dying. "There's never been a drug this lethal in my time with the U.S. Attorney's office."
- When it comes to stopping people from using heroin and other drugs, what is the biggest challenge?
Luke: Focusing on dealers is time-consuming and requires a lot of manpower. Birmingham metro area law enforcement must present a united front and have a dedicated team addressing the problem.
Renee N. Smith, a prevention coordinator at the Addiction Prevention Coalition:
"We see and believe addiction is a symptom of other issues - peer pressure, stress at home, the stress of wanting to fit in." Helping teenagers develop coping skills and giving them an opportunity to connect with each other are key components.
Wilson: "We just don't have enough resources for treatment. We need to treat addiction as another disease. If you have high blood pressure or diabetes, you go to a doctor to get treated. Addiction needs to be addressed on the same level from a policy standpoint, a resource standpoint and an access standpoint."