2017 Opioid & Heroin Drug Summit is July 11-13 at Broadmoor Baptist Church
Education. Training. Collaboration. Saving lives. These are the goals of the 2017 Mississippi Opioid and Heroin Summit – an opportunity for all of us to face the epidemic that touches our families, friends and loved ones.
The 2.5 day summit will be July 11-13, 2017, at Broadmoor Baptist Church in Madison. It will bring together 3 communities – public safety, public health, and the public. Hear from Sam Quinones, who documented the epidemic as a journalist and authored Dreamland. Learn about threats and trends from public safety officials who are tracking the supply of opioids and heroin. Listen to public health and treatment advocates discuss the disease of addiction and the many tools available to prescribers and treatment professionals. Join with the families touched by addiction to hear stories of recovery and hope.
The Summit is a conference aimed at informing the community about the growing epidemic of opioid and heroin abuse in the state of Mississippi. Men and women in various career fields will be educated on the role that they play in fighting this epidemic. People with addictions and their families will be offered support and guidance in taking steps toward rehabilitation. It is open to the general public, and a variety of professionals are encouraged to attend. Physicians, nurses, pharmacists, law enforcement officers, educators, those in the public health field, and many others will benefit from this summit.
Why is the Drug Summit Important?
- The U.S. makes up about 5% of the world’s population and consumes over 95% of the world’s hydrocodone products.
- Prescription drug overdoses account for nearly 60% of all drug overdose deaths. Of those deaths, 73% came from opioids.
- Mississippi is a leading prescriber of opioid painkillers with the equivalent of approximately 70 opioid pills for every man, woman, and child in 2016.
- The number of painkiller prescriptions in Mississippi makes us the fifth highest per capita in the nation, with 1.07 prescriptions per person.
- In the state of Mississippi, there were 563 reported drug overdose deaths from 2013-2016 (MS Bureau of Narcotics). Of these, 481 deaths were related to opioid abuse.
- Opioid-related deaths in Mississippi are greater than we think because they are often under reported by coroners.
- We need a comprehensive plan involving all relevant parties: parents, educators, policy makers, opinion leaders, stake holders, media, physicians, pharmacists, counselors, law enforcement, clergy.
- We must decriminalize addiction and move toward a treatment model for the abusers of opioids and heroin.