Chasing Heroin

On Tuesday night, PBS aired a new Frontline documentary, “Chasing Heroin,” chronicling the impact of the opioid epidemic as well as the efforts of law enforcement, social workers, and public defenders and prosecutors to save the lives of addicted people without locking them up. The entire documentary is streaming online and will air on WLIW/Channel 21 (PBS’s sister station) on Friday, February 26^th at 7pm.

The documentary was accompanied by four feature articles, which you can access below.

Drug Czar: Treating Substance Abuse as a Crime is “Inhumane” –  As the first former addict to run the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, Michael Botticelli has a different perspective from any of his six predecessors. In this interview, Botticelli talks about his own struggles with addiction, the nation’s heroin and opioid epidemic, and why he says “we can’t arrest our way out of our problem.”

How the Heroin Epidemic Differs in Communities of Color – People develop addictions for a variety of reasons, which makes it difficult to gather concrete data on what’s happening in each community. Frontline spoke to experts and community outreach workers around the country to try to understand the differences. While some have followed a similar trajectory as the white community, a closer look at the epidemic in some communities of color reveals a different story.

The Options and Obstacles to Treating Heroin Addiction – For decades, treatment has centered on an abstinence-only approach, consisting of detox and rehab, accompanied by counseling or group therapy, many inspired by the 12-step model. But as deaths have surged, many experts have begun rethinking that approach, arguing that opiate addiction should be treated the same as a chronic disease — like diabetes or depression. Abstinence and counseling is not enough; medication must also be an option.

How Bad is the Opioid Epidemic? – The epidemic didn’t happen overnight. Over the course of more than a decade, it has grown into a problem destroying lives across the nation, regardless of age, race, wealth or location. Here’s a look at how it happened and who is most affected.

Our Winter 2016 newsletter is online

The Winter 2016 edition of Odyssey House News is now available online. Read about our newest supportive housing building, client success stories, grant renewals, and more. Check it out and let us know what you think in the comments or on our Facebook wall. Click here to read it (pdf). If you'd like to receive a copy in the mail, please email your contact information to info(at)odysseyhouseinc.org.

Deaths and broken lives from drug overdoses

In today's edition of The New York Times, Odyssey House President Dr. Peter Provetcomments on a recent article ("Drug Overdoses Propel Rise in Mortality Rates of Whites," front page, Jan. 17) on the rising death rates for young white adults, driven by the opioid epidemic.

Deaths and Broken Lives from Drug Overdoses To the Editor:   The dramatic increase in drug overdose deaths is not new to drug treatment. For several years treatment providers have been racing to save the lives of young Americans addicted to opioids as what started as a surge in prescription drug abuse morphed into a full-blown opioid epidemic. It is also not news that intensive residential and outpatient treatment services are in short supply, and what resources are available in many parts of the country are often prohibitively expensive for the vulnerable populations who need them the most. That today's vulnerable addicts now include growing numbers of young white Americans highlights the tragedy of opioid addiction as a great equalizer. Decades of experience treating young people from inner-city communities ravaged by drugs has shown us that recovery is a multistep, time-consuming process that, for the fortunate ones who are helped quickly enough, starts with overdose-prevention injections and detox, and continues with medically assisted treatment, behavior therapy and continuing community-based support. Anything less just doesn't work and is merely a Band-Aid that will inevitably lead to the loss of more young lives - tragically, lives we know how to save.   PETER PROVET President and Chief Executive Odyssey House

You can help Odyssey Foundation win up to $20,000!

You can help Odyssey Foundation win up to $20,000! From now until February 14th, Small Token is holding a "Giving Has No Season" contest to reward nonprofits $5,000 per week.

 

To enter, use Small Token to send a meaningful gift to someone you care about. Express thanks or celebrate a special occasion by donating to Odyssey Foundation on their behalf. Each week, the charity that receives contributions from the largest number of users during the previous week will win $5,000.

 

How to help Odyssey Foundation win:

1. Download the Small Token app.
2. Choose Odyssey Foundation (Do not select Odyssey House).
3. Make a minimum donation of $1 each week during the competition.

Small Token is a new iPhone app that allows individuals to make donations to their favorite nonprofit organizations on behalf of someone else. Learn more here.

The year ahead

Experts' Contributions: “Hopes and Fears” 2016

Leaders in the field of drug treatment share their predictions for 2016 and the challenges ahead. See Dr. Provet’s below. Click here for the full report.

         

The escalating opioid epidemic among middle-class Americans drew unusual attention last year to our field across a wide public sphere of elected officials, leaders of medical and scientific communities, members of criminal justice and law enforcement agencies, and the mainstream media.

While this attention is welcome, we need to make sure the urgent need for treatment is reflected in the stabilization and expansion of services for vulnerable populations. As states (including New York, with high-need, disadvantaged populations) look to contain costs under Medicaid managed care, we must work hard to ensure that the federal block grant is maintained, the IMD [Institutions for Mental Diseases] exclusion is eliminated and parity under the ACA [Affordable Care Act] is fully enforced. Without these essential provisions built in to federal and state budgets and policies, nonprofit organizations that provide the bulk of safety net services will find it harder and harder to meet the increased demands for care.

At Odyssey House, we have been preparing for the impact of managed care for quite some time and have established new systems to both contain costs and streamline care. These include: electronic health record keeping and linkages with hospital and other community-based providers; evidence-based practices and medication-assisted treatment; and extended outpatient and housing support services.

My hope as we look to 2016 is that we will not only continue to provide quality care for disadvantaged substance abusers (who often require intensive residential services in order to have a chance at achieving and maintaining a functional life), but that their needs will be reflected in the ongoing national debate on how best to treat addiction and its accompanying social ills.

Peter Provet, Ph.D.

President & Chief Executive Officer