Posted: 12:00 a.m.Saturday, Jan. 30, 2016

Despite efforts, heroin deaths setting records

By Rick McCrabb

Staff Writer

BUTLER COUNTY — 

Ata time when local agencies are being armed with more resources, they appear tobe losing the fight against the heroin epidemic.

Butler and Warrencounty cities are hosting heroin summits, adding rehabilitation centers andclean needle exchanges,and allowing a non-profit Hamiltonpharmacy to dispense Narcan, the drug that reverses the effects of heroin andopiate-related overdoses, without a prescription.

Still,people are dying from heroin at record numbers.

“Thisis a very difficult situation,” said Dr. Ralph Talkers, director of emergencymedicine at Atrium Medical Centerin Middletown.“We are not winning the situation. We’re losing the battle.”

Oneof those who understands the pain of heroin, and its dire consequences, is Dorothy McIntosh-Shuemake,whose daughter, Alison Shuemake, 18, died Aug. 26, 2015 from a heroin overdose. The mother has spent the last severalmonths trying to keep other parents from burying their children.

“Iknew heroin was bad,” she said. “I didn’t know it could kill you the first timeyou took it.”

Therewere 137 total drug overdoses in Butler County for the first nine months of2015, and 108 of them were blamed on heroin, according to the Butler CountyCoroner’s Office. At the current rate, there would be 183 total overdoses and144 heroin-related, both records for the county, the office said.

Justsix years ago, there were seven heroin related deaths in the county, meaningthe deaths have jumped 1,957 percent since 2010.

InWarren County, there were 60 total drugoverdoses in 2015, and 18 of them were heroin-related, the coroner’s officesaid. But there are 15 cause of death cases pending, according to the WarrenCounty Coroner’s Office. If six more are blamed on heroin, that would set arecord in Warren County.

Butler and Warren countiesare trending similar to the state, according to the Ohio Department of Health.There were 2,482 drug overdoses in 2014, the highest in the state’s history and17.6 percent higher than 2013. Of those drug deaths, 1,177 were heroin related.

Ohio’s death rate fromunintentional drug overdoses in 2014 was 21.4 per 100,000 residents, comparedto 18.2 in 2013. That means more people died from heroin overdoses than alcoholand cocaine overdoses combined, according to the state health department.

Dr.Talkers said the emergency room treats one to three patients a week who haveoverdosed from heroin. He called the heroin epidemic and its hold “arelentless, uncontrollable situation” throughout the region.

Hesaid they typically see the patients after the city’s emergency medicaltechnicians have administered Narcan in the field. Dr. Talkers said heroin hashit “close to home” for some of the medical staff because they have knownpeople who overdosed.

Hesaid heroin is the current drug of choice of addicts because “it’s a cheap wayto feel good.”

Thenhe quickly added: “With significant risks.”

Eventhose who survive overdosing on heroin sometimes spend extensive time in theintensive care unit and rehabilitating, Dr. Talkers said.

Possible halfway house in Middletown

MiddletownCity Manager Doug Adkins said a former fire station on TytusAvenue may be repurposed as a halfway house to battle against heroin addiction. Hesaid architects are evaluating the fire station to see how easily it could beconverted into a halfway house for people recovering from addiction after theyleave drug rehabilitation programs.

Preliminaryplans would have the city lease the fire station, which was deactivated lastyear, to Community Behavioral Health, which would operate the halfway house.

Adkinssaid the city recognizes the “terrible cost of addiction.”

Inresponse to what has been called a “heroin epidemic,” Adkins formed a HeroinSummit that met several times last year, and will meet again in February. Hehas said the goal of the summit is to see a measurable drop in heroin deathsduring the first quarter of 2016.

Thegroup, made up of leaders throughout Butlerand Warren counties, is tackling five categories related to heroin: prevention,identification and intervention, treatment, post treatment and communityactivities, he said.

OneMiddletownagency has grown because of the Heroin Summit. Ron Ward, founder of CelebratingRestoration, a Middletowndrug recovery organization, said his group provides intervention, drugcounseling, and job placement for drug addicts.

Thegroup meets every Thursday at Triple Moon Coffee Co. on Central Avenue, and every week, Ward saidpeople are placed in recovery. In the last two years, his group has placed 80people into recovery programs, he said.

He’shoping to open a downtown center, possibly on Central Avenue, that would provide one centrallocation for recovering addicts to receive crisis intervention, mentor programsand job placement, though he stressed the site would not be a treatment center.

Whenasked about Ward’s proposal and what needs to happen to reduce heroin deaths,Maj. Mark Hoffman, of the Middletown Division of Police, said law enforcementis only part of the solution.

“Thelarger piece is intervention and education,” he said. “We welcome anything thathelps our community.”

Adkinssaid some of the measures taken by the city are paying off. He said the cityhas seen a 15 percent drop in calls for service and a corresponding reductionin crimes in 2015.

Hesaid the city also saw its Narcan use drop by a third during the last quarterof 2015 compared to the same period in 2014. He said the police departmentrecently added another canine officer to its narcotics division and a taskforce will be implementing the chronic nuisance ordinance in the spring.

Adkinssaid the emphasis this year will be eliminating places where this activitycontinues in Middletownand finding ways to either get addicts into treatment or away from the city.

“Thisis an important issue, and one communities across the nation are strugglingwith,” he said. “No community has successfully purged this from their borders.We are all looking for solutions. We have a good foundation in place, and willkeep at it as long as it takes. Funding, of course, is always an issue, and weare currently looking for funding for many of these Heroin Summit initiatives.This is a marathon, not a sprint, and we know that results may come slowly, butin Middletownwe are beginning to see encouraging outcomes of our efforts, and we will staythe course.”

Narcan available in Hamilton

Officialswith Community First Pharmacy, a subsidiary of CommunityFirst Solutions, said theyhave been given the green lightby the Ohio Pharmacy Board for the physician-approved protocol for dispensingNarcan, also known as Naloxone. While the drug is available atseveral pharmacies with a prescription, including some area Walgreen’s,Community First Pharmacy would be the only one in Butler Countyauthorized to provide it over the counter without one.

AshleyHoehn, pharmacy manager at Community First Pharmacy, has been in her job forthree years. She said she began to take notice of the heroin problem and wantedto find a way to help curb the overdose deaths.

“InHamilton therehas been a huge heroin epidemic along with abuse of pain medications recently,”Hoehn said. “We started working with the Butler County Mental Health andAddiction Recovery Services Board, and we wanted to provide an outreach to thecommunity and give them the access to Narcan to help prevent death by overdose.”

Somecritics, however, have claimed that wider access to Narcan could promote druguse by giving users a sense of security in case of an overdose.

LauraSheehan, vice-president of Behavioral Health at Community First Solutions, saidthe program should be a positive tool to help save lives, and she is happy tosee Butler County get one up and running.

“Likemany in our community, we are extremely concerned about the opiate overdose.This partnership with Community First Pharmacy and the Butler County MentalHealth and Addiction Recovery Services Board allows us to help break down someof the barriers that exist in receiving care,” she said.

‘I love her’

Evenwith all the medical advancements, the programs and research, DorothyMcIntosh-Shuemake said it feels like: “We are walking through molasses.”

Shewishes she could turn back the clock. She wants her baby back.

“Iwish I could tell her all about the great things she did,” her mother said. “Wedon’t spend enough time telling our children how wonderful they are. We spendtoo much time correcting, criticizing and not enough complimenting. I know sheknows I love her.”

By the numbers

1,177:Number of Ohioans who died from heroin overdoses in 2014.

47,055:Number of drug deaths nationally in 2014.

87,071:Number of Ohio Medicaid recipients diagnosed with opioid use disorder.

$72.9M:The cost to Ohio Medicaid for medication-assisted treatment in 2014.

Source:Ohio Department of Medicaid, U.S. Centers for Disease Control, Ohio Department ofHealth

DRUG, HEROIN OVERDOSES

STATE OF OHIO

Year, Total Overdoses, Heroin Overdoses

2010,1,544, 338

2011,1,765, 426

2012,1,914, 680

2013,2,110, 983

2014,2,482, 1,177

BUTLER COUNTY

Year, Total Overdoses, Heroin Overdoses

2010,61, 7

2011,94, 7

2012,103, 30

2013,118, 60

2014,137, 103

*-2015,183, 144

WARREN COUNTY

Year, Total Overdoses, Heroin Overdoses

2010,22, 9

2011,11, 7

2012,12, 9

2013,31, 23

2014,42, 21

2015,60, 18

*-Projectedyearly totals

SOURCES:Ohio Department of Ohio, Butler and Warren county coroner’s offices

STAYING WITH THE STORY

TheJournal-News has been at the forefront of covering the heroin epidemic that hasimpacted Butler and Warren counties. We will continue to writeabout the topic, how it’s affecting the region and what is being done to solvethe problem.

Restore 1968
If this is to be just office space for your group then I will leave it up tothe local business owners to decide what they want in this area of the citywithout any further comments from me.
However our local successful small business owners in this area need all the supportand protection we can offer them.
I’m well aware of the difficult task you have before you dealing with drug addictionin our city. I also understand that there are no quick or easy asnswers to solve this problem.
We have a mental health crisis in our county. At some point in time we aregoing to have to spend the money to deal with it.

Is there no commonsense left in Middletownor City Hall?

Tell me again howmany empty buildings and homes are sitting empty in this city and this is theONLY place available for a drug crisis center?

The successful businesseslocated in this small area of the city have been here for years with theexception of Combs BBQ and Dollar General, the new kids on the block. Where is Marty of Zoning Department?

Business Friendly?...Not from where I’m sitting..

Posted: 7:20 a.m.Monday, Nov. 9, 2015

Drug addiction center proposed in Middletown

By Rick McCrabb

Staff Writer

MIDDLETOWN — 

Thefounder of a Middletowndrug recovery organization hopes to expand his efforts by opening anintervention and educational “hub” on Central Avenue.

RonWard, founder of Celebrating Restoration, said his grassroots group providesintervention, drug counseling, and job placement for drug addicts.

WhileWard said the Central Avenuelocation would be convenient because it’s a short walk for addicts who livedowntown, some local business owners aren’t welcoming the efforts and the crimethey say it could bring.

CelebratingRestoration doesn’t own a building now, so Ward said meetings for addicts takeplace in his Middletownhome, local businesses and on the streets. He said once a center is open, itwill provide one place for recovering addicts to receive crisis intervention,mentor programs and job placement, though he stressed the site will not be atreatment center.

Thegoal, Ward said, is to free people of their addictions, get them off thestreets, find them jobs, and thus increase property values in the city.

Ward,46, a recovering drug addict, father and husband of two teens, said he’snegotiating with the owner of a building in the 2100 block of Central Avenue,across the street from Dollar General. He has applied for grants to fund theacquisition of the building and he’s scheduled to meet with City Manager DougAdkins this week to discuss his plans. He hopes to have the center open by thebeginning of 2016.

Wardsaid the intervention program is an outgrowth of the Heroin Summit that Adkinsorganized this year in response to what has been called “a heroin epidemic” inthe city. Community leaders have met numerous times this year, brainstormingideas how to reduce the number of drug overdoses in the city. The group istackling five categories related to heroin: prevention, identification andintervention, treatment, post treatment and community activities. Adkins hassaid he hopes to see heroin-related deaths reduced in the city by January 2016.

Forthe first six months of the year, there were 28 heroin-related deaths in thecity, said Jackie Phillips, Middletown’shealth director. She said there were 55 heroin-related deaths in the city in2014.

Countywide,there were 85 heroin-related deaths the first six months this year, up from 56during the same time in 2014, said Martin Schneider, an administrator for theButler County Coroner’s Office. There were 103 deaths in 2014, he said. At thecurrent rate, there would be 170 this year, an increase of 65 percent.

Maj.Mark Hoffman, from the Middletown Division of Police, said as Middletown looks for ways to reduce heroindeaths, law enforcement is only part of the solution.

“Thelarger piece is intervention and education,” said Hoffman, who has met withWard about his proposal. “We welcome anything that helps our community.”

Ward,a 1987 Edgewood High School graduate, said he sees hiseffort, the city and the police department “collaborating to make the communitybetter.”

TwoMiddletownbusinessmen have differing opinions on the proposed drug educational program.

SteveO’Neil, owner of Stefano’s Italian Cafe on Central, owns several propertiesalong Central Avenue.He has tried to “build the neighborhood up” and doesn’t welcome Ward’s effortsif it becomes a hangout for drug addicts, he said.

Hewants the building to have set business hours, something like 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

“Notsome drop off center,” O’Neil said. “I don’t want people just hanging out infront of the place, milling around all hours of the day. We don’t need that inthe neighborhood. Bad for business.”

SteveDavidson, owner of Steve’s Trophies, located one block from the proposed site,understands the concern that attracting recovering drug addicts to the areacould adversely impact business, but he also sees the need for drugintervention in the city.

“Somebodyhas to do it,” he said. “It has to be somewhere.”

Wardsaid that in the last two years, his group has placed 80 people into recoveryprograms. Most of the funding has come from private donations, he said. He saidthe group meets at 7 p.m. every Thursday at Triple Moon Coffee Co., 1100 Central Ave.and the number of attendees continues to grow.

“Ineed an army,” he said.