OPINION

Charita Goshay: 'Because 100,000 Deaths Is Too Many' opioid symposium is April 28

Charita M. Goshay
The Repository
Plain Township Fire and Rescue Chief Charles Shalenberger holds a Narcan kit. Plain Township was the first Stark County fire department to team with Canton City Public Health to distribute the medication to the public.

The American psyche is such that we love to move forward, always forward.

If we are honest, we'll admit that our collective attention span leaves much to be desired.

We're a young country and it shows. At times, we behave like toddlers on coffee.

As the weather breaks, many of us have packed away our COVD-19 masks because we have been eager to leave them behind, though COVID is hardly through with us, as evidenced by the new-and-improved XE variant in Europe.

As the great Satchel Paige put it, "Don't look back — something might be gaining on you."

It's hard to forget that an estimated 1 million Americans have died from complications connected to the disease, but we've managed to do just that, haven't we?

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A pale horse

In the same way, we don't talk much these days about the ongoing scourge of opioid addiction. Yet it continues to ride a pale horse through this country, wielding a sickle of death and dysfunction and in some cases, laying waste to entire communities.

For this reason, the Stop Heroin From Killing Committee is hosting its seventh annual symposium, "100,000 Deaths Is Too Many," from 6 to 8 p.m. on April 28 at Malone University's Johnson Center in Canton.

Stark County Common Pleas Court Judge Frank G. Forchione, committee chairman and cofounder, said Ohio remains ground zero for the epidemic that has killed thousands of Americans over the last decade.

The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports: "Opioid-involved overdose deaths rose from 21,088 in 2010 to 47,600 in 2017, and remained steady in 2018 with 46,802 deaths. This was followed by a significant increase through 2020 to 68,630 overdose deaths."

Last year, 100,000 Americans died from drug overdoses, a jump of 29%. That's roughly the equivalent of the combined populations of Canton, Massillon, Alliance, Louisville and North Canton.

Last year, fentanyl was the cause in 75% of Stark's fatal cases, Forchione said.

At the height of the COVID pandemic, enterprising drug dealers mixed deadly but cheap fentanyl with heroin, a sure death sentence for their unsuspecting customers.

Opioid addiction also has wreaked havoc on the budgets of first-responder agencies, who have had to commit a portion of their budget toward naloxone, which resuscitates people when they overdose.

Even churches have gotten in on the act, distributing kits to their congregants to have on hand. Why? Because virtually everyone knows someone struggling from substance abuse — even if they aren't aware of it.

No safe communities

Because everything is connected, no community has been spared. Drug addiction puts all of us at risk because it produces crime, most notably in the form of burglaries, drug trafficking and prostitution.

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It clogs the court dockets and adds to the burden of social service agencies, the frontline troops who must deal with the fallout inflicted upon the youngest victims, namely the children of addicts.

People often like to point to cities but opioid addiction has plenty of hostages in the suburbs and rural communities.

In 2017, Dr. Brenda Fitzgerald, then-director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, noted: "The drug overdose death rate in rural areas is higher than in urban areas. We need to understand why this is happening so that our work with states and communities can help stop illicit drug use and overdose deaths in America."

The CDC also reports that while the proportion of people using illegal drugs in rural communities is smaller than in cities, the impact is greater. Also, the percentage of people in cities and outlying areas who are addicted to illegal drugs is similar.

The symposium speakers include Lisa Admiree and Aaron McCune, both recovering addicts, and Erin Morabito, a nurse with CommQuest.

The Johnson Center is at 2600 Cleveland Ave. NW. The event is free.

Charita M. Goshay is a Canton Repository staff writer and member of the editorial board. Reach her at 330-580-8313 or charita.goshay@cantonrep.com. On Twitter: @cgoshayREP