Attorney General Mark Herring and Brian Moran, the secretary of public safety and homeland security, hosted the Virginia Heroin and Prescription Drug Summit in Charlottesville Thursday. The summit addressed plans to combat the expanding abuse of heroin and prescription opioids in Virginia.
Speakers included keynote speaker Michael Botticelli, acting director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, a selection of panelists personally impacted by drug abuse and others specialized in state heroin data and legislation. During his visit, Botticelli met with local physicians in the treatment and recovery community.
In his remarks, Herring discussed how the image of heroin and prescription drug abuse has evolved over the years to encompass a much wider user base.
“This issue really got on my radar screen about a year ago, when I started reading reports about a rise in overdoses and fatalities,” Herring said. “It was crossing all age demographics, it was crossing all income levels, it was crossing different geographic areas, and what I could see was this was an emerging public safety and public health threat.”
Herring said prescription drug abuse is a gateway to abusing heroin.
“Seemingly innocent things like an injury or a surgery, like having your wisdom teeth out, can put opiates in the hands of someone who can abuse them or find later that they have become addicted themselves,” Herring said. “Too often people think because these drugs originate from a doctor’s prescription that they must be safe. But the truth is these are powerful drugs, and they can easily be abused, and they are highly addictive, and they can harm or kill if they are used improperly.”
Panelists also discussed aspects of the Herring's five-step plan, released last month. The plan included the development of legislative solutions, increased accountability for the professionals making prescription drugs illegally available and increased preventative measures in the form of education of law enforcement officials and the commonwealth’s youth.
"Far too many Virginians are losing loved ones to prescription drug abuse and the resurgence of cheap, potent heroin," Herring said in the press release. "There's no silver bullet to this spike in opiate abuse and fatalities, but we've identified things we can do right away to help turn the tide, and hopefully save lives.”
Proposed legislative solutions included a “Good Samaritan” provision for overdoses, where overdose witnesses, who are often addicts themselves, can obtain limited immunity from prosecution for minor offenses for seeking immediate medical attention during an overdose emergency. Several states and the District of Columbia have already implemented this policy.
Another proposal detailed in the press release is the expansion of the naloxone pilot project, which previously allowed Richmond, Chesterfield and a few other jurisdictions to use naloxone, a prescription that reverses the effect of an opiate overdose almost instantly. New York and Massachusetts have used the drug to save hundreds of lives.
Sam Schumach, a spokesperson for the Office of National Drug Control Policy, emphasized the importance of the summit, and Botticelli’s participation, in raising public awareness about the issue of heroin and prescription drug abuse in Virginia.
“[Today] was a great opportunity to get our message to the community about what we as an office can do — while working with state and local partners — to reduce drug use and it's consequences throughout the country,” Schumach said in an email. “[Botticelli] very much appreciates the time he is able to spend with people on the ground in these communities to hear about their concerns and how we may be able to help.”
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