Health department: Opioid abuse is a Utah epidemic
In 2015, 89 opioid prescriptions were dispensed per every 100 Utah residents — an increase of 29 percent since 2002, according to the Utah Department of Health.
Professor Emeritus of Psychology in Healthcare Policy and Research at Weill Cornell Medical College Gilbert J. Botvin spoke during the second annual Winter Prevention Summit on Friday, Dec. 9, 2016 at Eccles Conference Center in Ogden.
On Thursday, a joint task force of 22 city and county leaders across the U.S. released a report titled "A Prescription for Action, Local Leadership in ending the Opioid Crisis."
This Oct. 19, 2016 photo taken at Family Guidance Center, an addiction treatment center in Joliet, Ill, shows the packaging of Vivitrol, a high-priced monthly injection used to prevent relapse in opioid abusers. U.S. prisons are experimenting with the medication, which could help addicted inmates stay off heroin and other opioid drugs after they are released. (AP Photo/Carla K. Johnson)
According to the Utah Department of Health, opioid abuse is an epidemic in Utah.
“Drug poisoning deaths have outpaced deaths due to firearms, falls, and motor vehicle crashes in Utah,” says the department’s website, health.utah.gov.
RELATED: Overdose-reversing drug naloxone now available in Utah without a prescription
A news release from the department says Utah ranks fourth-highest nationally for drug overdose deaths.
The department says those at highest risk of opioid overdose include individuals who:
¦ Are taking high doses of opioids for long-term management of chronic pain
¦ Have a history of substance abuse or a previous non-fatal overdose
¦ Have lowered opioid tolerance as a result of completing a detoxification program or recently being released from incarceration
¦ Are using a combination of opioids and other drugs such as benzodiazepines (Klonopin, Valium, Xanax) or alcohol
¦ Are unfamiliar with the strength and dosage of prescription opioids and the purity of street drugs like heroin
¦ Are alone when using drugs
¦ Smoke cigarettes or have a respiratory illness, kidney or liver disease, cardiac illness, or HIV/AIDS.
According to the health department’s opidemic.org website, the following are signs of an overdose:
¦ Small, pinpoint pupils
¦ Blue/purple fingernails & lips
¦ Won’t wake up, limp body
¦ Shallow or stopped breathing
¦ Faint heartbeat
¦ Gurgling, choking noise
For information on opioids, visit opidemic.org.