In my 30 years as a law enforcement officer, I have witnessed a transition when it comes to the threat posed by street drugs. The drug market is now flooded by synthetic opioids. In that time, I have seen addiction affect every generation. The stakes with these drugs are higher than ever before. As we face an evolving fentanyl crisis, our response must evolve too.
Throughout my career, I have made addressing the epidemic of addiction and overdose my personal mission. I helped launch a community coalition addressing the opioid crisis and addiction. Testifying before the Homeland Security Committee in the United States Senate on synthetic opioids, I warned the country of the changing drug market and how it devastated individuals, families, and communities. As synthetic opioids increased with the introduction of the even more potent carfentanil, so did overdoses. My county was seeing nearly 200 overdoses in one week.
By forming a multi-faceted community-based response, we have not only been able to stabilize overdoses but also decrease overdose deaths in our community, quickly addressing issues that amplify overdoses. Our community, once one of the hardest hit, is a community in recovery, on a path to see three years in a row of reducing overdose deaths.
Our fight is not over. In Ohio, 85 percent of drug overdose deaths involve an opioid, with illegal fentanyl most commonly involved. The drug market continues to evolve. Even what is believed to be a prescribed medication bought on the internet could be fentanyl. This means more people, including those that may not struggle with substance abuse, could be poisoned by the unexpectedly potent drug of fentanyl.
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If we are to save lives and give more opportunities to connect those in need to recovery, we must keep an open mind to how we respond, with a willingness to try something new. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has already approved overdose rescue agents designed to counter fentanyl. While available in many states, these lifesaving tools are not reaching a significant number of first responders and frontline workers, including police and fire.
Unnecessary paperwork or bureaucracy should never be a barrier to saving lives. Unfortunately, there is not a standard response, and each state must issue its own individual policy or standing order to open access to additional FDA-approved products, like reversal agents for synthetic opioid overdoses.
In Ohio, we have already taken steps to increase access to additional FDA-approved opioid antagonists for law enforcement and other first responders. Yet several states across the country have limited access to these tools. As potent synthetic opioids continue to spread and become ingrained in our communities, we must ensure all the FDA-approved reversal tools available are able to be accessed in every state.
I saw an entire family—an entire generation—die from addiction, the younger two because of fentanyl. That generational loss both shattered me as a police officer and inspired me to turn tragedy into hope by using my voice and experiences with the opioid overdose epidemic.
A hope that maybe I could help right some wrongs when responding to addiction, while preparing others so their communities do not face the same tragedies. I encourage all states provide all FDA-approved reversal tools available to ensure we can provide the most help to those in need during an overdose crisis.
Having more tools in our toolbox means more lives saved, with more opportunities for recovery.
Serving on the frontlines of the opioid crisis, I have learned that one group, one way, or one ideology only leads to one ending. Just as a house is not built only by a hammer, we should ensure we have all the tools to build a community that saves more lives and more opportunities for recovery.
Mr. Synan is a United States Marine Corps veteran and a 31-year police veteran with the Newtown Police Department for the last 18 years as Police Chief.
The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own.
