May 25, 2018 -Austin City Council members this week called on the city manager to find more resources for public education, harm reduction and treatment to deal with the region’s emerging opioid crisis and increasing overdose deaths.
A resolution adopted unanimously by the council Thursday will encourage greater collaboration among city departments and regional partners like Travis County to address the local opioid epidemic. Austin Public Health data released last month shows a steady increase in drug overdose deaths since 2006, with those from opioids like prescription pain medication and heroin nearly doubling in the course of a decade, from four deaths per 100,000 residents in 2006 to 7.5 deaths per 100,000 residents in 2016.
“While there are communities around the country that are facing at this point a more severe crisis, more profoundly impacted at this point than Austin, sadly, Austin is not immune,” Mayor Steve Adler said at a news conference before Thursday’s council meeting. “We have the opportunity in Austin to get out in front of a challenge that is now growing here.”
The resolution had the initial backing of the mayor and Council Members Ann Kitchen, Delia Garza, Ora Houston and Kathie Tovo. It asks City Manager Spencer Cronk to consider as soon as possible any funding requests for the 2018-19 budget that would help alleviate the problem, including: ■Public education.
■Criminal justice diversion programs.
■ Treatment and recovery.
■Harm-reduction initiatives, such as administering naloxone, a drug that reverses the effects of opioids to stop overdoses.
Cronk has been asked specifically to consider the effects the opioid crisis is having on Austin’s music community. At least three local musicians have died so far this year from opioid overdoses, according to the SIMS Foundation, which provides mental health services to the city’s creative community. The number of musicians seeking treatment for opioid dependence tripled last year, prompting the organization to put out a call for help.
“The opioid crisis is hitting Austin’s treasured music community,” SIMS Executive Director Heat her Alden said Thursday. “The number of Austinites affected by this crisis continues to rise, and that means it’s time for all hands on deck. The city’s leadership is urgently needed.”
The resolution also calls for the city’s staff to look into what other cities are doing to confront the opioid problem.
“Other cities have taken very important steps, from arming their librarians with Narcan to make sure they can respond quickly in the case of an accidental overdose to expanding our substance use strategies and our substance use programs. These are all things our city should be considering,”
Tovo said. “Every accidental death from opioids is one too many in this community, and we need to take proactive and decisive action.” More than 42,000 people in the United States died in 2016 from prescription opioids, heroin and fentanyl, which was more than any year on record, according to the U.S. Centers for Dis ease Control and Prevention.
“We could be losing up to half a million people from opioid overdoses over the next 10 years,” said Carlos Tirado, an addiction psychiatrist and president of the Texas Society of Addiction Medicine.
“There is a lot of hope. Treatment works. Medication treatments work, behavioral treatments work. It’s really about expanding access and opportunities for individuals to overcome their stigmas, get connected and get help.”
Council Member Houston suggested looking for federal dollars to help with the city’s local problem. Adler and Council Member Greg Casar said Austin also should seriously consider joining one of several legal battles against pharmaceutical companies. More than two dozen states, cities and counties, including Travis County, have filed lawsuits against companies that they say aggressively marketed opioids and lied about the risks to make money.
“I think that those legal challenges look really promising,” Casar said.
