A $1.9 trillion COVID-19 aid package includes funding for states and local communities to tackle behavioral health and addiction after record-level drug overdose deaths nationwide in 2020.
At a virtual roundtable Monday with 黑料吃瓜网 addiction prevention and treatment providers, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal said he hopes additional money will help boost on-the-ground efforts.
鈥淏ut it is a trickle compared to the volume that we need, the resources that are necessary,鈥� he said.
黑料吃瓜网 substance use disorder experts early on warned that the COVID-19 pandemic could worsen the ongoing opioid epidemic and related fatal overdoses. Now almost a year into the pandemic, they鈥檙e finding that to be true.
State data show that by December, in 2020 -- about a 13% increase from the previous year.
鈥淲ith these numbers, we are kind of approaching essentially close to four accidental intoxication deaths a day,鈥� said Dr. James Gill, the state鈥檚 chief medical examiner.
New and emerging substances like xylazine, an animal tranquilizer, Flualprazolam, a designer benzodiazepine, and Eutylone, a synthetic stimulant, are increasingly being mixed with other drugs and showing up in fatal outcomes.
鈥淭he illicit drug market is so corrupted and so volatile right now that it鈥檚 really dangerous,鈥� said Robert Lawlor Jr., 鈥渁nd [I] think we need to spread the messaging that if you鈥檙e buying illicit drugs on the street, that is probably not what you think it is.鈥�
Lawlor is a drug intelligence officer with the New England High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area under the Office of National Drug Control Policy. He joined others in the virtual meeting Monday to share ways in which the state may be able to prevent overdose deaths going forward.
Mark Jenkins, executive director of the Greater Hartford Harm Reduction Coalition, said the pandemic has made it harder to do outreach and programs in the same ways they did before.
Many providers have had to scale back in-person services out of coronavirus safety concerns for clients and staff, as well as logistical issues that stemmed from quarantine guidelines.
鈥淚f the opposite of addiction is connection, we鈥檙e doing anything but right now,鈥� Jenkins said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got to meet these folks that are active right where they are, and embrace them.鈥�
Despite obstacles created by the pandemic, prevention and treatment programs have found ways to get medication-assisted treatment to people by way of mobile van delivery. Recovery coaches are connecting to overdose survivors by phone, health providers have leveraged telehealth to bring people care, and recovery support meetings are taking place virtually when in-person meetings aren鈥檛 possible.
Providers and advocates agree the circumstances aren鈥檛 ideal, but Maria Coutant-Skinner, executive director of the McCall Center for Behavioral Health in Torrington, said she hopes these strategies can prevent the addiction epidemic from getting worse while the COVID-19 pandemic continues, and after it ends.
鈥淲e鈥檙e setting the stage for lots of pain and suffering to come,鈥� she said, 鈥渂ut we have an option right now in front of us where we can build really good prevention, forward-thinking upstream solutions so that those things don鈥檛 have to come to pass.鈥�
黑料吃瓜网鈥檚 centralized adult crisis call center for mental health and addiction support and intervention services can be reached at 1-800-467-3135 or 211. Action Line is supported by the state Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services and United Way of 黑料吃瓜网.
