Health leaders say the state needs to increase access to appropriate treatment services to help Coloradans struggling with addiction, especially individuals emerging from lethal environments.
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Harm Reduction Action Center Executive Director Lisa LaVille and Mental Health Colorado President and CEO Vincent Achiti spoke with the state at the 2023 Colorado Reform Health Care Policy Conference held last month. discussed addiction-related issues.
“At Mental Health Colorado, we acknowledge that humans have used a variety of substances, from caffeine and tea to plants and things that grow underground,” Atchity said. “It is part of human nature to use all kinds of substances. Excess use of some substances can be harmful. Underuse of certain substances, such as insulin, can be fatal.” It’s possible. It’s all about balancing substance use. The compass I use for harm reduction is: What is the health status of the individual?”
Like many other states, Colorado is seeing alarming trends with fentanyl and other opioids.State age adjusted Opioid overdose mortality rate The rate increased from 8 per 100,000 people in 2011 to 21.7 per 100,000 in 2021. Last year in Denver 453 people died More than half of deaths are due to opioid overdose, and more than half are due to fentanyl use.
“People are dying in public at a very high rate in Denver,” Laville said. “(June to September) had the most public overdoses ever.”
Atchiti said prioritizing the criminalization of drug addicts exacerbates the problem.
“Our population is 5% of the world’s population, 25 percent of the world’s incarcerated population. This is a higher incarceration rate than any other country. We arrest and incarcerate some people more easily than others based on certain substances. ”
— Atchiti
People in state prisons are The probability is 129 times They are more likely to die from an overdose within two weeks of release (compared to the general population), Laville said.
“The largest detox facilities we have in this state are prisons,” Laville said. “And the greatest cure is [center] We have the Department of Corrections. And we know that drugs are getting into jails and prisons. In fact, there are several countries around the world that have syringe exchanges in their prisons because they don’t want people to get infected with HIV, knowing that drugs are getting in there. ”
All prisons in Colorado are now required to provide opioid treatment to inmates who need it. House Bill 1326 Atchiti said last year:
“In recent years, Colorado has taken that step forward. [to extend] Access to medication-assisted treatment in prisons. As a leading consumer advocacy organization, we supported it. It is inhumane to not provide state-of-the-art pharmacotherapy support for the inevitable detoxification process while in prison custody. It’s like not giving insulin to someone with diabetes. ”
— Atchiti
Ravile and Atchity said education is key to addressing the state’s addiction problem. Laville said the Drug Policy Alliance’s new curriculum: Safety First: Real Drug Education for Teens Helps parents communicate with their children about drug use. This is Japan’s first harm reduction-based drug education curriculum for high school students.
“We need to get smarter about this. If your child is 13 and you want them to live and grow up to be 27, equip their hard drive with the best possible software and intelligence. “As they move on to high school and college, they will be making life-saving decisions, weighing risks at every turn,” Atchiti said.
They must be able to recognize the substances that may be provided to them at any time and be aware of the health and legal implications. For a child to survive in this substance-rich environment, we cannot hide behind an abstinence-only, don’t ask, don’t tell policy. ”
