The commission that is divvying up the state's half of the $480 million settlement with opioid manufacturers and distributors will meet at 1 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 4, in Frankfort.
The Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission will meet in Suite 200 of the Capital Complex East, 1024 Capital Center Drive, where Attorney General Daniel Cameron has an office. He chairs the commission, and appointed its other members.
The meeting is open to the public, and it will be livestreamed. The agenda includes a report from Executive Director Bryan Hubbard, comments from the public, and meetings of subcommittees.
Coincidentally, the next day, state government announced a new website, FindRecoveryHousingNowKY.org, for people in treatment for substance-use disorder to find beds at recovery homes in their area. "People who visit the site can confidentially locate safe, affordable recovery housing openings based on their needs and personal situation, reports Tom Latek of Kentucky Today. "Users can narrow their search by location, rent amount, amenities, services, residence requirements, transportation options and more."
A woman who works for Operation UNITE (Unlawful Narcotics Investigations, Treatment and Education) "talked about the need for a support system for the children raised in the drug epidemic, stating she saw it first hand watching relatives shoot up when she was a child," Culvyhouse writes. Boyd County Coroner Mark Hammond visualized the local death toll from opioids, "stating 500 pairs of shoes would probably account for the dead he’s seen in his 11 years in office. At one point, Hammond got emotional, stating he was tired of all the death and the broken families. . . . Each member of the commission present shared their thoughts and opinions — the big takeaway was the answer wasn’t with Frankfort, but it was in the communities."
The Opioid Abatement Advisory Commission will meet in Suite 200 of the Capital Complex East, 1024 Capital Center Drive, where Attorney General Daniel Cameron has an office. He chairs the commission, and appointed its other members.
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| Executive Director Bryan Hubbard addresses the Ashland meeting. (Photo: Matt Jones, Daily Independent) |
The commission has had two meetings to hear from the public, in Pikeville and Ashland. "About a hundred people from all walks of life" turned out for the Ashland meeting Tuesday, Sept. 27, reports Henry Culvyhouse of The Daily Independent.
"A constant theme throughout the evening was the need for support in recovery through housing and transportation," Culvyhouse reports. "Brittany Herrington, of Pathways, said housing is needed in the worst kind of way, because people in early recovery typically can’t find stable housing or residential treatment centers with decent standards."
Coincidentally, the next day, state government announced a new website, FindRecoveryHousingNowKY.org, for people in treatment for substance-use disorder to find beds at recovery homes in their area. "People who visit the site can confidentially locate safe, affordable recovery housing openings based on their needs and personal situation, reports Tom Latek of Kentucky Today. "Users can narrow their search by location, rent amount, amenities, services, residence requirements, transportation options and more."
State Health Secretary Eric Friedlander said at the announcement, “When we talked to primary care physicians, we found out they don’t know where to send people to get help. We needed something in place that could quickly get people to recovery, because the one thing we know, when someone says, ‘Yes’ to recovery, we had better be able to say ‘Yes’ back to them.”
At the Ashland town hall, "Transitional living — a sort of soft landing for folks being released from jail, prison or out of rehab — was another concern," Culvyhouse reports. "Many times, people were lost in the shuffle and wound up back in the same environment where they used, only to start the cycle again."
The stigma of drug abuse remains a big barrier to treatment, doctors said. "One asked treatment centers to use federal regulations to redact certain portions of medical records so patients don’t have the stigma of being addicts when they go seek treatment for an ailment," Culvyhouse reports. "One described seeing a man die of a rotten tooth due to no provider touching him because of his addiction. Another woman lost a finger because doctors assumed she was drug-seeking, another doctor reported."
A woman who works for Operation UNITE (Unlawful Narcotics Investigations, Treatment and Education) "talked about the need for a support system for the children raised in the drug epidemic, stating she saw it first hand watching relatives shoot up when she was a child," Culvyhouse writes. Boyd County Coroner Mark Hammond visualized the local death toll from opioids, "stating 500 pairs of shoes would probably account for the dead he’s seen in his 11 years in office. At one point, Hammond got emotional, stating he was tired of all the death and the broken families. . . . Each member of the commission present shared their thoughts and opinions — the big takeaway was the answer wasn’t with Frankfort, but it was in the communities."
Half of the settlement goes to state government and half to local governments, which are supposed to set up their own allocation system.
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