VERO BEACH, FL – According to a Surgeon General’s Report on Facing Addiction in America, “the number of people with a substance use disorder exceeds the number of people diagnosed with cancer –any kind of cancer.” Even more frightening, opioid overdose deaths were five times higher in 2016 than in 1999. But substance abuse is just a big city problem, right? Wrong. Indian River County has its fair share – from alcohol abuse to opioid overdoses.

The Substance Awareness Center of Indian River County, the lead agency of SAFIR (Substance Abuse-Free Indian River Coalition), is doing all it can to keep numbers down through its prevention, treatment and recovery programs.

“We, as an agency, follow the science that says that prevention works; that we can prevent substance abuse disorders,” says Carrie Lester, LMHC, CAP, who was appointed executive director in July when Robin Dapp retired.

“It’s our mission to lead our community to a healthier lifestyle by reducing the incidence of substance abuse,” says Lester. “Nationally, the problem is that a significant number of people who have a substance abuse disorder, whether alcohol or opiates, don’t see that they have the disorder and so don’t get treatment.”

They clearly have their work cut out for them. According to Assistant Chief Cory Richter, IRC Fire Rescue Division, there were 139 drug overdose deaths in 2017; 74 of those in the first six months. Yet as of mid-September 2018, there were already 130 overdose deaths; 96 in the first six months.

As in most of the country, the majority of those deaths involved heroin laced with either fentanyl or carfentanil, extremely powerful synthetic opioid analgesics. Richter explains that fentanyl is 200 times more potent than morphine. Carfentanil – “what they use to knock out elephants” – is 5,000 more potent than heroin and 10,000 more than the same unit of morphine. These devastatingly destructive drugs depress the vital portions of the brain that control breathing, heart rate and body temperature, causing them to stop functioning.

“That’s why it’s killing these people,” says Richter. “It’s a huge sedative that is knocking out their respiratory drive; they die of hypoxia.”

In 2010, the Substance Awareness Center began instituting a Prevention Works initiative primarily aimed at adolescents. Currently, every sixth- through eighth-grade student receives 30 weeks of the evidence-based, comprehensive Lifeskills Training (LST) curriculum, a national substance abuse and anti-violence prevention program that builds through grade levels. It was extended this year to include fifth-graders in the majority of elementary schools. An additional ReDirect Counseling Program targets youth who have indicated risky behavior.

“Science says that it’s really about skill building, behavior rehearsal, social skills training. Oneshot presentations aren’t proven to have long-term effectiveness,” Lester explains. “The research behind Lifeskills Training is that it is going to have long-term impact, carrying our students all through high school.”

The results are encouraging as far as young people are concerned. In 2017, as tragic as they were, there were just 5 deaths under age 21, versus 75 drug overdose deaths between the ages of 21 and 54 and a surprising 50 people aged 55 and older.

Additionally, prior to LST, Indian River County’s reported 30-day use of alcohol was ranked one of the highest in Florida for underage drinking. It is now at about state average, according to a Florida Youth Substance Abuse survey. However, alcohol abuse is still the county’s No. 1 problem for adolescents and adults, says Lester.

“Some people believe that alcohol isn’t as harmful, or kids are going to drink anyway so we might as well have them drink at home. A lot of parents do it with the best of intentions, but science says a consistent ‘no’ message reduces substance use. Teens who are allowed to drink in the home will actually drink more outside of the home than teens who aren’t allowed to drink.”

Adults and teens are sometimes referred to SAC as a result of DUIs, says Lester. “People come in not identifying at all, and then as we really peel it away, they maybe start to look at the truth. They see the way the alcohol was impacting different areas of their life.”

And, like a bad game of whack-a-mole, while tobacco use among young people is down, vaping has become a problem, says Lester. “Our big concern with vaping is that what ultimately happens is once you’re addicted to something you’re going to go to the cheaper alternative, which might ultimately be cigarettes.”

Read full article: County agency on front line of substance-abuse fight