May 24, 2022 — TRAVIS COUNTY — It’s not your imagination. More people are dying these days from drug overdoses and drug toxicity. In some cases, it’s someone down on their luck looking for a cheap high, in other cases it’s someone uninsured who turned to what ended up being a dangerous counterfeit.
County commissioners pointed to their medical examiner’s latest report showing that drug toxicity is now the number one cause of accidental deaths in Travis County ahead of both falls and motor vehicle fatalities.
And people fighting this battle in the streets hope the public gets the message. Pastor Mark Hibelink operates the Sunrise Navigation Network says, “I think the public declaration just gets it in front of everyone to remind them that it’s a major issue that our entire community is facing even if it hasn’t touched your life yet.”
Supporters of the crisis declaration want the county’s support to go to groups that will go in and give people suffering from drug problems treatments they say are proven to help. Joao Paulo Connolly is an organizer for the Austin Justice Coalition. He told commissioners, “I have witnessed how impactful it is to bring Narcan out to these sites in a nonjudgmental way. Just the presence of it allows an opening for real conversation without stigma.”
And the declaration approved today spells out how the county’s help will save lives: There will be $350,000 divided between overdose prevention kits and community-based service providers. The county also says it will analyze its current investments in various treatments.
There’s a lot the county wants to accomplish to address this drug problem. The public health crisis declaration is intended to help that happen in a short amount of time. Just before the vote on the resolution, Precinct 3 Commissioner Ann Howard commented, “I think this is a time where we need to act immediately if not yesterday.”
