What’s on the Horizon for Public Health

By Kyra Kjeldahl, Health Educator Horizon Public Health

Dopesick. Painkiller. The Crime of the Century. Sound familiar? All three of these are the titles to popular shows on your favorite streaming services that made the opioid epidemic a hot topic amongst the general public. While these mainly focused on the creation and advertising of Purdue Pharma’s OxyContin, which contributed to the rise in over-prescribing of opiates, there is much more to know about the opioid epidemic.

Experts divide the opioid epidemic into three distinct waves (Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). The first wave, which lasts from the 1990s through 2009, is characterized by the rise in prescribing opioids and a rise in overdose deaths caused by prescriptions opioids. This is what most of the content in the before-mentioned shows focuses on. The second wave began in 2010 with rapid increases in overdose deaths that involved heroin. The third wave began in 2013 and continues today. This wave saw an increase in overdose deaths involving synthetic opioids (ex: fentanyl).

In Minnesota, opioid-involved overdose deaths increased from 229 deaths in 2010, to about 1,002 overdose deaths in 2022 (Source: Minnesota Department of Health). Since 2020, the number of deaths per year has almost doubled. The number of nonfatal ER visits for opioid overdoses has also increased from just under 2,000 visits in 2016 to over 4,000 in 2022.

It’s common for us to believe that “oh, it’s not a problem here” or “that’s a Big City problem”. Prior to my work in substance use prevention and public health, opioids were just a painkiller prescribed to family members after surgeries.  I had no idea how easy it could be to become addicted to an opioid, the complexities surrounding addiction, or how opioid misuse had impacted the Land of 10,000 Lakes. I wish it wasn’t an issue that so many people and families were affected by. Unfortunately, opioid misuse is a problem here. While our data may show “low” numbers of fatal and nonfatal opioid overdoses in comparison to the Twin Cities or Duluth, each number is a person. And just one person dying from an overdose is too many.

So, what is our community doing? All five counties that Horizon Public Health serves are receiving funding as a part of the National Opioid Settlement.

• Local Opioid Advisory Councils have been established and are working to advise the respective County Board of Commissioners as to how to most effectively, efficiently, and equitably spend the County-Level Opioid Settlement funds. With these dollars, each county has opened up applications for funding for community partners and/or initiatives to work on prevention, treatment, and recovery.

• Advisory Councils have also placed an emphasis on educating and increasing awareness about the dangers of fentanyl. There are several organizations who can provide free training on how to use naloxone (commonly called by the brand name, Narcan, which is a medication that rapidly reverses an opioid overdose). Some of these organizations are also able to supply you with free naloxone.

• Despite being a rural community, we have access to Medication Assisted Treatment programs locally. These programs use medications in combination with counseling and behavioral therapies to effectively treat opioid use disorders.

• Across West Central MN, recovery programs have been growing and becoming more available, thanks to organizations like the MN Harm Reduction Team, WEcovery, Unity Recovery, and (soon) MN Adult & Teen Challenge. These are essential to helping individuals impacted by substance use stay in recovery.

For more information on the opioid epidemic, community funding opportunities, and community resources visit: horizonpublichealth.org.