Crisis. Epidemic. These are words used to describe the level of which opioid addictions have reached around the country. Health departments in various states have stepped up and are trying to bring awareness to the issue, many using billboards to get the word out. Here in the Atlanta area, the Georgia Department of Health (GA DPH) has partnered with Billboard Connection to execute a large part of its statewide billboard campaign.
Digital billboards with the message “It only takes a little to lose a lot” slogan are running in markets across the state, including Valdosta, Savannah, Macon, Columbus, Gainesville, and Augusta. The areas in which the campaign is running may seem hard to believe there would be a drug problem there. Valdosta is best known for the 10,000+ student Valdosta State University. Valdosta High School has a football team with the “most winning football program” in the entire country. Valdosta is also known as the “Azalea City,” because that plant grows like crazy in that area.
Drug issues are probably not even on the radar when people think of Savannah. It is Georgia’s oldest city and probably one of its best known, not only for the beautiful parks and antebellum architecture, but also for ghost stories and historic cobblestone squares. Millions of people visit the city each year for that and to get a glimpse of all of the history still evident in the city, which still has the original town plan laid out by founder James Oglethorpe.
Macon is best known for its rich, Native American history. From the Ocmulgee National Monument and ancient Native American earthen mounds to museums with artifacts that are thousands of years old, Macon is nicknamed “The Heart of Georgia.” It is home to the Georgia Music Hall of Fame and the International Cherry Blossom Festival. It is the birthplace of many famous musicians, including but not limited to The Allman Brothers Band, Mark Heard, Otis Redding, Bill Berry of R.E.M. and last, but not least, Little Richard.
Columbus is located on Georgia’s western boarder, on the Chattahoochee River across from Phenix City, Alabama. It’s Georgia’s third largest city, about 100 miles southwest of Atlanta. It is the home of Fort Benning, which is a major employer in the area, as well as the United States Army’s Maneuver Center of Excellence. Columbus is also full of notable historical places. It is home to the National Civil War Naval Museum, National Infantry Museum, as well as the Coca Cola Space Science Center, designed for public education in science, physics, and astronomy.
Gainesville is not only Hall County’s county seat, it is also known as the “Poultry Capital of the World” for its plethora of poultry processing plants.
Augusta is Georgia’s second largest city after Atlanta, located just across the Savannah River from South Carolina. It is home to U.S. Army base, Fort Gordon, but probably best known for the Masters golf tournament. That event alone usually brings more than 200,000 visitors from across the world to the area.
In their current billboard campaign, several designs are being used, featuring men, women, and even senior citizens, to illustrate that opioid addiction is no longer an issue exclusive to young people. It’s happening everywhere and it does not discriminate. According to the GA DPH website, despite what people may perceive as a “new” problem, the opioid epidemic has been around for decades. They say it actually started back in the 1990s when doctors began over prescribing pain killers. Pharmaceutical companies assured doctors that opioids were not addictive, so they were prescribed more often. This led to widespread misuse before officials realized these medications were in fact, highly addictive.
From 2010 to 2017, there was an immense jump in the number of overdose deaths related to opioids, which equated to a nearly 250% increase from years prior.
That increase was significant enough for the President to declare a national health emergency in 2017. More than 47,000 people died across the country that year. It was estimated that more than 1.7 million people in the U.S. were addicted to opioids, and more than 652,000 of them were addicted to heroin. Here in Georgia, the overdose deaths in 2017 attributed to opioids totaled 1,043. By September of 2017, data from over the previous year showed opioid overdoses increased by 30 percent in 45 states. In the Midwest alone, the overdose rate increased by a staggering 70 percent! In large cities, the overdose rate increased 54 percent across 16 states.
It’s not just at crisis levels for adults. Babies are affected also when born to addict mothers. Statistics on the National Institute of Health’s website show that every 15 minutes, a baby is born suffering from opioid withdrawal.
As mentioned above, opioids are pain killers. So what drugs fall in that category? Most of the ones that have been making headlines recently are heroin, fentanyl (a synthetic drug), oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine, and morphine. Not only do they dull the pain sensations, they also produce a feeling of euphoria, which is why experts say people become addicted.
In addition to the billboard campaign, the GA DPH has several programs aimed specifically at combating the opioid crisis. One of them is called the “Opioid and Substance Misuse Response,” It is designed to “lead statewide strategic planning efforts to respond to the opioid epidemic such as work group activities.” This group develops response plans and seeks grants to continue their efforts. The “work groups” are aimed at the six priority areas, which are Prevention Education, Maternal Substance Use, Data and Surveillance, Prescription Drug Monitoring Program, Treatment and Recovery, and Control and Enforcement.
One of the groups, the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program, “keeps an electronic database and monitors the prescribing and dispensing of ‘controlled substances.'” That’s why now when you go to the pharmacy for over the counter cold medicines, you have to show ID and they record your information.
The Drug Overdose Surveillance Unit keeps track of overdose deaths and responds to areas where there are clusters of incidents.
Nationally, the crisis is even worse. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse website, more than 130 people die every day from opioid overdoses. The crisis also has a negative impact on the economy. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates the “economic burden” from abuse of prescription opioids to be nearly $79 billion annually. That includes the costs of healthcare, lost productivity, addiction treatment and criminal justice involvement.