Julie Ball

jball@citizen-times.com

ASHEVILLE - Amid a shortage of a drug used to reverse heroin and other opioid drug overdoses, Smoky Mountain MCO is providing $100,000 to help distribute 2,600 doses of the drug in Western North Carolina.

NARCAN nasal spray, which contains naloxone, is used to reverse opioid-related overdoses. The donation could save between 200 and 300 lives, officials say.

“It’s incredibly important,” said Conner Adams, who works with the nonprofit North Carolina Harm Reduction Coalition helping to distribute the drug. “We have been in a naloxone shortage, so without this we would be struggling pretty hard to get it to people.”

The shortage in North Carolina is tied to needed funding for the drug, according to Tessie Castillo, advocacy and communications coordinator with the coalition.

Representatives of the N.C. Harm Reduction Coalition and Smoky Mountain LME/MCO, along with Buncombe County Sheriff Van Duncan and state Sen. Terry Van Duyn, were on hand for an announcement about the donation Tuesday.

“This will be a lifesaver in our community,” said Dr. Craig Martin, chief medical officer for Smoky Mountain.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the U.S. has seen a 200 percent increase in the rate of opioid overdose deaths since 2000.

The increase mirrors a sharp rise in prescriptions for opioids for pain relief. As efforts to crack down on prescription drug abuse have kicked in, more people have turned to heroin.

According to Smoky CEO Brian Ingraham, 80 percent of heroin users started with prescription pain killers. Ingraham served on the Governor’s Task Force on Mental Health and Substance Use.

“I think the biggest thing I learned is the size of this problem is almost beyond comprehension," Ingraham said.

Smoky Mountain LME/MCO oversees state-paid and Medicaid-paid mental health services in 23 WNC counties. The organization is using Medicaid savings to provide the funding for the nasal spray.

The N.C. Harm Reduction Coalition will then get the drug into the hands of those who need it.

Castillo said since 2013 when North Carolina lawmakers passed a law that allows naloxone to be distributed this way, her organization has distributed more than 27,000 free naloxone kits.

Those kits resulted in nearly 2,500 successful overdose reversals. Of that number, 545 were in Asheville — the largest number of any city in the state, Castillo said.

“Although that doesn’t mean Asheville has the largest overdose problem in the state. It just means that N.C. Harm Reduction has a really good network of people in this area who have been supportive of this program for many years," she said.

Naloxone is effective with heroin and prescription painkillers such as OxyContin and Fentanyl, and the N.C. Harm Reduction Coalition distributes free naloxone kits through opioid treatment programs.

“I believe active drug users should have it before anyone else, but also family members,” Adams said. “People coming out of treatment are very at risk. We try to get it into sober living facilities … I really think it should be in every first aid kit everywhere.”

In addition to funding the opioid overdose reversal kits, Ingraham said Smoky Mountain is also looking at expanding treatment access. The organization is also helping sponsor a heroin summit put together by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and taking place March 30 at UNC Asheville.

Overdose reversal kits available

If you would like to receive NARCAN or other type of overdose rescue kit, call or email Hyun Namkoong with the NCHRC by phone at 919-218-4505 (call or text) or at hnamkoong88@gmail.com.