Drug overdoses claim nearly 3 times more lives than homicides, report says

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Overdose deaths continued to spike last year, claiming nearly three times the number of victims than homicides.
Heroin and other opioids were blamedCyrus Kouandjio Youth Jersey in at least 84 percent of Jefferson County's 362 known overdose deaths, posing "Louisville's most significant public safety and public health crisis," said U.S. Attorney John Kuhn with the Western District of Kentucky.
Since toxicology reports are pending; the death toll may actually be higher, Kuhn said Tuesday after releasing a 40-page "Call to Action" to attack the epidemic on multiple fronts. The report makes several recommendations, including asking every school to implement evidence-based drug-use prevention programs.
"I'm not talking about 'bring in a cop, wag a finger,'" programs of old, Kuhn said.
Some schools in Jefferson County "have Tony Dorsett Jersey abandoned such programs, focusing instead on targeted intervention resources for children who are using substances" already, according to the report.
Another idea calls for educating parents that "an attitude of tolerance for even occasional or experimental substance use puts their children at risk for serious, debilitating and life-threatening addictions."
Yes, the experts are standing their ground with their view that marijuana can be a gateway drug — in opposition to a growing number of advocates pushing to legalize the drug. Kuhn said the research is "incredibly clear" that use of alcohol, marijuana or even cigarettes before age 21 significantly increases chances of addiction later on.
Dozens on the front lines in the public and private sector had input in the report, developed on the heels of a December heroin and opioid summit, hosted by Kuhn's office along with the University of Louisville School of Medicine and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
During an interview Tuesday with the Courier-Journal, Kuhn underscored his dedication to finding solutions in three key categories — prevention, treatment and supply.
For starters, he wants a statewide repository http://www.authenticcowboysstore.com/shop-by-players-chris-jones-je... to more quickly and more accurately collect key data to define the breath of the problem. That includes tracking deaths, non-fatal overdose runs, the use of naloxone — a heroin and opioid antidote — and drug trends.
"Inconsistency is a huge problem," he said, pointing to discrepancies in fatal overdose numbers from agency to agency.
Treatment providers need to come together to track bed requests verses availability, the report states, citing Dr. Robert DuPont, a national expert on drug treatment and former White House drug czar. Prior efforts have been thwarted by what DuPont has publicly deemed a "long-running war" between those who embrace the Medication-Assisted Treatment, or MAT, model and those touting only abstinence.
The magnitude of the problem requires everyonehttp://www.authenticnflraidersshop.com/shop-by-players-menelik-wats... to play a role — from parents and teachers to law enforcement and doctors and addiction specialists, according to the report.