EDITORIAL: Churches have role to play in opioid epidemic

Feb. 23-- Feb. 23--The opioid epidemic is still spreading across our nation. The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that more than 130 people in the U.S. die from opioid overdoses every single day.

Opioid deaths rank highest in New England. New Hampshire, Maryland, Washington D.C., Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Maine and Connecticut all fall in the top 10. West Virginia tops the list with 43.4 deaths out of every 100,000 deaths attributed to opioid overdose.

In New Haven, Connecticut, ambulances responded to more than 70 overdoses in a single city park in a single day back in August.

Churches like The Center Church, in Hartford, Connecticut, are training their leadership to respond to opioid situations. In 2018, a man overdosed on the church's front steps. Police came to retrieve him, but the church's pastor said she never found out what happened to him.

That led her to the Harm Reduction Coalition, an educational organization that prepares faith leaders to deal with drug problems in their areas -- including the administration of Narcan, a drug used to counteract an overdose.

Other organizations have popped up, too, like Pivot Ministries in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Pivot ministries is a faith-based residential rehab that works with almost 50 churches throughout New England.

SMART Recovery is a self-management program for those dealing with addiction, with 27 meeting places in Connecticut. SMART Recovery also trains people and organizations who work with the addicted -- churches and ministries are becoming more and more included in those seeking to help.

Not only do these organizations provide training for ministers, they seek to reframe the conversation about drug abuse and addiction. For too long, the church's attitude about drug use hasn't offered much hope to those who need it.

Though Mississippi ranks low on the list of opioid deaths (43rd), our state ranks fourth in the mass prescription of opioids. In Lee County, according to the Centers for Disease Control, there were 112 opioid prescriptions per 100 people. That's right, there are enough opioid prescriptions written in this county for every person to have one, and then some. That's true for Tishomingo and Alcorn counties, too.

This problem is all around us. The discrepancy between the prescription rate and death rate feels like a foot about to drop. Our church community needs to think ahead on this issue and be prepared to meet people where they're at.

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