Officials discuss opioid issue in Springfield

Emceed by Springfield Police Department Chief Doug Johnston, a panel of municipal and state officials spoke to a large crowd at Riverside Middle School to discuss the opioid epidemic in Springfield, Vermont, and the nation and address questions from the community on Tuesday.

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2017-05-31 / Front Page Officials discuss opioid issue in Springfield By KELSEY CHRISTENSEN kchristensen@eagletimes.com Vermont Public Safety Commissioner Tom Anderson speaks during a forum about opioid abuse at Riverside Middle School in Springfield, Vt. Tuesday night. — KELSEY CHRISTENSEN SPRINGFIELD, Vt. — Emceed by Springfield Police Department Chief Doug Johnston, a panel of municipal and state officials spoke to a large crowd at Riverside Middle School to discuss the opioid epidemic in Springfield, Vermont, and the nation and address questions from the community on Tuesday. The event was announced following a slew of drug arrests earlier this month in which 16 were arrested and cited for alleged involvement in heroin distribution in the Springfield area. The panel included Claudia Marieb, who works in substance abuse prevention in Windsor County, Kristi Morris, chair of the Springfield Selectboard, Molly Cousins, who works for the drug trafficking program, Amy Paradis, analyst at the VT Intelligence Center, Lt. Paul Favre and Lt. Theresa Randall of the Southern Vermont Task Force, and Tom Anderson, Commissioner of Public Safety. Several key community members including school board member Jeanice Garfield, Superintendent Zack McLaughlin, and Vermont state legislature leadership including Rep. Alice Emmons, Rep. Allison Clarkson, and Diane Derby from Sen. Patrick Leahy’s office were also in attendance. The presentation focused on key points such as why people choose to do heroin, what local and state law enforcement are doing to address the problem, statistics relating to overdoses and seizures, and a report on how to recognize heroin addiction in loved ones. Anderson, who previously worked as the U.S. Attorney for Vermont under the Bush administration, spoke on what community members can do about the issue, as well as about ways in which law enforcement are currently tackling the epidemic. According to Anderson, Gov. Phil Scott has a laser focus on the issue. “We’re working to come up with a holistic plan to deal with this issue,” he said. “Funding from congress to fight this battle is going to be imperative.” Derby said an omnibus bill has been proposed that will bring $1.3 billion on the national level to the topic of heroin prevention, intelligence, and enforcement. “It’s a bipartisan, national problem,” Derby said. “We’re fortunate to have state, local, and federal officials working on the issue.” Vermont loses one individual every three to four days to issues related to heroin abuse. Opioid deaths eclipse deaths in both motor vehicle accidents and homicides combined annually. Additionally, Vermont is one of the top five states in the nation for heroin use, all according to information presented at the forum. “If you’re an out of state family looking to come to Vermont, those aren’t selling points,” Anderson said. Anderson said tackling the heroin problem will involve disrupting the supply chain. “We can arrest our way out of this problem,” he said. “But we’re going to give it the college try.” Anderson also called for accountability in the medical field for writing prescriptions. According to data Anderson presented, there is one opioid prescription for every Vermonter. “If you have a doctor prescribing opioids to you or your children, I would seriously question that doctor,” he said. Windsor County, specifically, experiences 2.2 overdoses per day, according to data from emergency services. Last year saw 23 overdoses with a law enforcement response, seven of which were fatal, while 2017 has seen nine overdoses with a law enforcement response, three of which were fatal. The impact of heroin isn’t relegated to its users: the toll on families and children is also substantial. Fiscal year 2016 saw a 35 percent increase in children sent to Department of Children and Families custody due to heroin, while 701 children currently in DCF custody are placed there due to issues related to opioids. Randall related an incident, for example, in which police responded to a fire caused by a lit cigarette belonging to a man who’d just overdosed, while his infant was crawling around. Randall, who worked undercover in heroin investigations, educated the crowd on telltale signs, informing the community that incidents like missing spoons, cotton balls, Q-tips, lighters, and broken-apart cigarette filters laying around, and use of slang terms such as “tickets,” “bundle,” “buns,” “stack,” and “brick,” can all be critical in identifying a heroin user. More obvious signs may include track marks, swollen hands, or pinpoint pupils can certainly indicate heroin abuse, however, Randall points out that users may also inject between the toes or other sites to hide the body. “Working with kids, I’ll ask ‘why did you get hooked on this?’ You didn’t start with needles,” she said. “Younger people may start by snorting it, and then they just can’t get high off of it and they move to needles.” Paradis points out that people may become addicted to heroin after a prescription because it is cheaper and easier to get than prescription opioids. “It costs $290 dollars per day to maintain an addiction with pills,” she said. “It costs $40 per day with heroin.” Paradis and Randall also brought the crowd’s attention to the issue of Fentanyl, a drug more potent than morphine that can be life threatening even if breathed in or absorbed through the skin. Six salt grains of the drug can be deadly, posing problems for law enforcement that come in contact with the drug and attempt to test it. “If you don’t know what it is, it can be fatal,” Randall said. Paradis said that while law enforcement, prevention, and treatment and rehabilitation departments once all had unique, individual reporting systems, they are now linked for more comprehensive data compilation. As for disrupting supply, the panel notes that Vermont is not a source-state: all heroin in Vermont comes north from states like Connecticut, New York, Massachusetts, and others. Additionally, many dealers do heroin in order to support their addiction, rather than turn a profit. “Not all dealers a created equal,” remarked Anderson. Ending on a positive note, the panel then discussed the successes the county has had in prevention, including the bi-annual drug take back day, in which Springfield participates, when citizens can drop off any unused prescriptions to ensure they don’t wind up in the drug market to law enforcement. According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, 10 percent of drugs acquired through take back days are opioids. The Springfield Police Department also has a drop-box year-round for these kinds of take backs, highlighted Springfield Prevention Coalition Deb Grant. According to Grant, 70 percent of drugs that are misused are pilfered from acquaintances of the user’s medicine cabinets. Grant also extended her appreciation for efforts in the medical field for doctors to monitor opioid prescriptions, so that prospective addicts cannot approach a new doctor for a prescription after a previous doctor has denied them one. Prescription misuse in the state has also decreased in high schools from 2013-2016. The concern in the community, expressed by the large turnout, may demonstrate a point of optimism in the community’s battle against this epidemic. “It’s time for people in the community to come out of their comfort zone and volunteer,” said Anderson. “We need to be aware, alert, and active.” Johnston encouraged community members to continue tipping law enforcement to any information of which they may be aware.