MARION, Va. – In one year’s time, 238 people died in Southwest Virginia from causes related to just four prescription drugs: Oxycodone, Hydrocodone, Methadone and Fentanyl.

That was 2006, the most recent data available, and it represents a threefold increase from a decade earlier.

The effects are monumental, according to members of the Planning District III Substance Abuse Coalition, a partnership among government and community groups that began two years ago in response to what they say is a drug epidemic.

Among the effects: skyrocketing numbers of children who end up in foster care because of their parents’ substance abuse.

“The headlines are talking today about concerns related to swine flu and a potential pandemic,” said Mike Hall, chairman of the coalition and director of the Wythe County Department of Social Services.

“I suggest to you that Southwest Virginia is and continues to experience a regional pandemic with regard to drug-caused deaths,” Hall said. “Every year since the year 2000, over 100 people have died in Southwest Virginia as a result of overdoses” of those four drugs.

The bottom line in the coalition’s report on substance abuse: Communities must establish “an integrated system of care” that seamlessly connects legal, financial, housing, family, child care, vocational, mental health, medical, transportation and educational services in the effort to provide prevention, treatment and continuing recovery for addicts.

In addition to this new level of collaboration, the capacity in existing drug treatment programs must be increased to meet the region’s overwhelming need, according to the report.

The planning district includes Washington and Smyth counties and the city of Bristol, as well as other jurisdictions to the east.

“Folks, you need to understand that the disease of addiction is a fatal, incurable, progressive illness,” said John Shinholser, a one-time addict who has turned to helping others beat addiction through the McShin Foundation, a nonprofit drug abuse recovery organization he founded.

“We understand that when you help an addict or an alcoholic, you help a family, you help children.”

Ray Ratke, special adviser for children’s services to Virginia’s secretary of health and human resources, said the state is working on bridging the gaps among the different agencies that serve children – but local leaders must make improving the system a local priority for it to work.

“The well-being of kids is the primary, most important responsibility of a community, and I happen to believe with that sentiment we have to make this a priority,” Ratke said. “Long-term success of kids and families is directly, hugely impacted by issues of substance abuse in this community and communities across the commonwealth.”

Susan Morrow said Bristol Virginia’s drug treatment program seeks to address the effect of substance abuse not just on families and children but also on neighborhoods and whole sections of communities.

Washington County, Va., Sheriff Fred Newman said the biggest issue is repeat offenders.

“We see people that will come into our jail, they’ll be sentenced, they’ll spend a period of time behind bars, they’re out and they really have nowhere to go or no type of treatment,” Newman said. “And they’re right back in, many of them are right back into our drug culture.”

Mike Abbott, of the Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy, said identifying drug abusers and channeling them toward treatment can be done effectively in the workplace through drug screening; state law requires such efforts in the mining industry for the sake of safety.

Lisa Moore, executive director of the Mount Rogers Community Services Board, said for drug treatment to be successful long-term it must partner with strong recovery services, which aren’t offered comprehensively in every community.

Limited availability means people are put off for weeks or months waiting for services at a critical time, she said – and the issues are often complicated by mental illness, underlying events, and the abuse of multiple substances, some legal, some not.

“Children and adults who abuse substances very often have experienced an extreme trauma in their lives, and the substance abuse is an effort to be able to manage that trauma,” Moore said. “Sometimes I think one of the things we do as a community and treatment providers is overlook that trauma … and we neglect to look back and see the origin of that issue, and I think that’s something that’s absolutely critical.”

Moore said it’s also important to refrain from being critical about people’s circumstances.

“So often we’re judgmental. We’re moralistic about what these people’s failings may happen to be, as opposed to recognizing how much more complex it is than a moralistic issue altogether,” Hall said. “This is a major community issue that we need to recognize and we need to go about attempting to address.”

• Home |
• About Us |
• Recovery Resources |
• Publications |
• Media Center |
• Our Regions