COLUMBIA, S.C. — According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 47 states and the District of Columbia saw an uptick in opioid overdose deaths in 2020 compared to 2019. In South Carolina, there was a 44.9% increase in deaths.
Robbie Robertson is the Communication Director for the Lexington/Richland Alcohol and Drug Abuse Council (LRADAC). He said the coronavirus pandemic is a big factor in the uptick.
"COVID is directly related to a lot of these increases in overdoses that we've been seeing," Robertson said. "I mean, we've had people dealing with everything from social isolation to being unemployed to people losing their loved ones to people just being afraid of the virus itself. So all of these stressors have been combined to almost like a perfect storm to cause a lot of these overdoses."
Robertson said opioid drugs can become addicting in a short period of time after usage.
"We need to remind people of how highly addictive opioids are," Robertson said. "I mean, it can affect your brain. Within three days, you can cause or get a dependency on these drugs, so they're very fast acting, and just very dangerous."
LRADAC works to educate the community about prevention, intervention, and using NARCAN. The organization holds free online training sessions. The next training session will be on Thursday, May 27, at 6:30. If you are interested in joining, click here.
Back in April, SC Lawmakers passed a bill into law that allows individuals prescribed to opioids easier access to overdose reversal drugs.
The South Carolina Department of Health and Environment Control (DHEC) confirmed to News 19 that they are working on finalizing their own report about opioid overdose deaths in the state.
Robertson said the first thing to do if you encounter someone who may have overdosed is to call 9-1-1. If you have access toNARCAN, use it.
For prevention, treatment and intervention help, visit LRADAC at https://lradac.org/.
To know the signs of an overdose visit: https://justplainkillers.com/overdose-prevention/.