Confronting addiction and overdose

Alamance County, N.C. - The misuse of prescription painkillers along with illicit opioid use (e.g. heroin, fentanyl) are driving the overdose crisis. The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services (NCDHHS) provides services to prevent misuse of alcohol and other drugs.

According to North Carolina Opioid Settlement, nearly 12 North Carolinians die every day from a drug overdose. And more than 37,000 North Carolinians lost their lives to drug overdose from 2000-2022.

North Carolina participated in a national lawsuit against pharmaceutical companies. From the ligation, a $56 billion dollar agreement was reached. As of December 2023, North Carolina has been awarded over $1 billion dollars. This money will be paid out over an 18-year period from 2022 to 2038. These funds will be used to support treatment, recovery, harm reduction, and other life-saving programs and services in communities throughout the state. North Carolina’s Opioid and Substance Use Action Plan lays out concrete strategies to advance prevention, reduce harm, and connect people to the care that they need.

North Carolina legislators passed the NC Controlled Substances Act. Controlled substances have specific regulatory requirements for their acquisition, storage, security, inventory, record keeping, disposal and importing or exporting.

DeDe Severino, Assistant Director of Addictions and Management Operations Team has worked for NC DHHS for 11 years.

“There’s still a lot of stigma and shame associated with substance use,” Severino said.

 “People are sometimes reluctant to reach out for help, to reach out for care. We’re doing as much as we can in terms of breaking down some of that stigma. But what keeps me in this is people do well, people recover, you know, and it’s just the most amazing thing to give people that opportunity to work on themselves. They recover, they thrive, they sustain their recovery. And it’s just a beautiful thing to see.”

According to the Morbidity and Mortality Report, Black Americans experience the largest absolute and percentage increases in drug overdose deaths from opioids. From 2015 to 2017 Black Americans experienced increases aged 45-54 years (from 19.3 to 41.9 per 100,000) and 55-64 years (from 21.8 to 42.7) in large central metro areas. Nationally, from 2014 to 2015 prescription opioid deaths in combination with heroin and cocaine were the most prevalent among African Americans when compared to other races.

“We're seeing decreases in overdose deaths, but we're not seeing decreases in overdose overdose deaths among the black population,” Severino said.

Emergency Responders

“Rehab is not for people who need it, rehab is for people who want it,” said Eric Mulford, Paramedic for Alamance Emergency Medical Service.

Mulford has worked in public safety for 25 years, not only as a paramedic but also as a firefighter. He is also enrolled in courses at Elon University to obtain a bachelor’s degree in nursing. Mulford is expected to arrive at the scene of all medical emergencies, including the almost 100 overdoses that happen per year in Alamance County.

“I think that, you know, as far as overdoses go, I think it’s an issue anywhere like anywhere you have people using illicit drugs to get a euphoric effect,” said Mulford.  “I think that’s one thing, but to get a euphoric effect at the expense of someone’s life, that’s something totally different. And if it’s one person or if it's 100 people, it's too much, in my opinion.”

Narcan

Naloxon, also known as “Narcan,” is a medication that reverses opioid overdoses. It is sprayed up the nose and knocks the opioid drug off brain receptors, restoring normal breathing, saving lives.

Narcan is readily available, often sold in drug stores for about $20 to $30, and given for free by the health department. Mulford believes there is hindrance when asking for narcan.

“They have to ask for it specifically,” Mulford said. “And then you’re facing somebody saying, you know, well ‘why do you need the Narcan?’ You know, and you’re having to answer questions.”

Stigmas with substance use can shy people away from receiving the help they need. Mulford encourages illicit drug users to be safe.

“If you’re going to use, one person use while the other person watches just in case something goes wrong and someone overdoses, that person can help you,” said Mulford.

As of November 13, 2024 narcan has been administered 168 times in Alamance County. Overdose source details include 10 heroin-related calls and 84 unspecified substance opioid responses.

Back to Basics Foundation is a program known for saving lives of alcoholics, addicts and obsessive compulsives. Fredrick Witcher, General Service Representative of Alamance Back to Basics says he has struggled with alcoholism since his adolescence.

“I wanted to keep the party going,” Witcher said. “Once I got that feeling of what alcohol made me feel like, I never wanted to let it go.

Witcher was born and raised in the “Moonshine Capital of the World,” Franklin County, Virginia. High school is where Witcher played several sports while also developing his drinking habits. After graduating high school, Witcher became the first African-American to receive a college scholarship in his county. After finishing his first year of college Witcher was expelled because he was selling Moonshine on campus.

“Alcohol gave me a feeling,” Witcher said. “It filled a void that I’d always been looking for, that I did not get from my people, from my parents, it was just something that made me feel good about myself, until it stopped working, and then it became ‘I had to have it’.”

After expulsion from school and many years of continuous off-and-on drinking habits, Witcher found his way to Residential Treatment Services of Alamance in Burlington, North Carolina. RTSA is an organization that offers recovery/rehabilitation and resources to alcoholics, addicts, and people with mental illness. He spent eight months in recovery, then relapsed.

“I wake up every day with untreated alcoholism, every day,” Witcher said. “I’m not cured from this. I’m one drink away. Oh, even one thought away because it was never the alcohol that got me drunk. It was the things that I did that led up to that first drink, being dishonest, not doing the right thing you know.

While today Witcher is celebrating eight years of sobriety, the many years of alcohol use have taken a long term toll on his health, including seizures.

“I like me for once.” Witcher said. “I like who I am. Just the way I feel. For once in my life I finally like me, that feeling that us as alcoholics and addicts chase to be wanted to feel good.