By Bob Strohm
bstrohm@wbcowqel.com

In its fourth annual community event, the Opiate Task Force, Crawford ADAMH Board, and Maryhaven held a community education program on Medicated Assisted Treatment for addiction at Bucyrus High School Tuesday evening.

In past years the community event has held an opiate summit as well as two town hall meetings. Jody Demo-Hodgins explained the difference of this year’s event.

“This year we wanted to focus a little bit more on the educational aspects so people can understand more about addiction” Demo-Hodgins said. “And so we brought in Dr. Brigham who is works for Maryhaven who is an expert and professional in the field of addictions and treatment.

“This is a broader view with a little bit more of a focus on addictions.” Demo-Hodgins continued.

Dr. Greg Brigham spoke to the crowd in the theater of the Bucyrus Secondary School about general substances that are abused such as CNS depressants which alcohol is the most common, but also include opiates/opioids, CNS Stimulants such as crack, cocaine, and meth, hallucinogens, and inhalants.

“If the conditions are right a person becomes addicted when they become dependent then we consider it a chronic medical illness,” Brigham said.

“Addiction occurs hereditarily about 35 to 60 percent, about the same as asthma,” Brigham continued.

In a diagram that was presented by Brigham in 2001 0 to 3 percent of people in Crawford County that were in treatment were for opioid use, however that number rose to 7 percent of patients in treatment were for opioids.

Brigham noted to the audience that in 2007 opiates overtook car accidents in Ohio as the leading cause of accidental death.

Brigham informed the audience that the brain produces a natural opioid which are endorphins, and that when someone starts to use opioids their endorphin production in the brain decreases which is what causes withdrawal symptoms.

Brigham touted the usage of Buprenorphine stating that a test with 96 subjects 80 percent reached drug free urine when using Buprenorphine as first line treatment.

Brigham closed his presentation by telling the crowd, “No single treatment is appropriate for everyone, and that people in treatment need to remain in treatment for an adequate period of time is critical for the treatment’s effectiveness.”