Prepared by:  Dana Joy

Burkemont Precinct Chair

Burke County, NC

The Opioid Epidemic Reality

Article #2  •  March 2, 2018

“To say we are in an opioid crisis is a bit of an understatement,” says Morganton Public Safety Captain Jason Whisnant, “…it’s a disaster.” He went on to say that Western North Carolina has particularly been hit hard from this epidemic. The statistics have proven this. Captain Whisnant attributes this in part to a geographical standpoint. There are four major interstates connected with-in Burke County that afford easy access for drug activity to make its way across several county lines and even reach the coast of North or South Carolina with-in a two to five-hour time frame.

Captain Whisnant was instrumental in his approach of explaining how this opioid crisis affects us directly as citizens and taxpayers, but he particularly focused on the crimes related to this addiction. For example, our department of public safety continuously receives countless calls of complaints that people have “had their prescriptions stolen”. This type of complaint results in an officer having to file a police report, leading to investigating protocol which in-turn ultimately ends up with the prescribing doctor refilling a patient’s script. I know first hand from my days of working in a doctor’s office, of hearing patients calling in often with similar complaints of “lost medications” and their demands to have more pills to help them deal with the pain. One patient I recall, with-in hours of having their script filled, said they “accidentally flushed them all down the toilet”! Another popular excuse was that they lost the written prescription and requested another one before the intense pain they were experiencing would get much worse. This would result in the patient visiting various pharmacies to have multiple prescriptions filled because if they repeatedly returned to the same pharmacy, it would trigger a suspicious pharmacist who would usually contact the office with an alert stating that the patient was trying to fill a duplicate script for pain medications already filled earlier, obviously indicating that the script was never lost to begin with.

Other opioid related crimes present a much more serious concern to our public and citizens. If a person is high on opioids, it is equivalent to being intoxicated, or “drunk”. We all understand the very real and serious ramifications of someone getting behind the wheel under the influence of alcohol. Being impaired, because of opioid use is no different. Not only does it put the user at risk for a motor vehicle accident, possibly leading to life threatening injuries or even death, but it also places those same risks to the public who are not driving under the influence.   

Morganton’s department of public safety has seen a dramatic increase in the number of drug related service calls since 2013. As per Captain Whisnant, between Jan. 2013 and Dec. 2016, the department received 1,787 drug related calls. On one overdose call, a man was found deceased. After no evidence of needles were located at the scene, it was the medical examiner who discovered a piece of a deadly fentanyl patch in his mouth.  

Trying to feed a person’s addiction without money causes additional crimes. The addict becomes so desperate to “feed” his or her habit, they will go to any lengths to get cash fast. This can lead to larceny, prostitution, home invasions, forgery, kidnapping, assaults and the list goes on. When a person is so strung out on drugs, they become mentally incapacitated leading to irrational thinking and behaviors, resulting in bad choices, even the improper care of their children, lacking proper parenting and willing to give them up.

Every tax dollar that we spend goes to a service for something or someone. Our police force deserves our support for the services they perform, placing their lives at risk every day to protect and defend our freedom, yet for every drug related service call, the process of the officer’s time is approximately 2 hours. The officer’s responsibilities vary, which generally include the arrest, escorting the addict to a hospital, staying at the hospital while the addict is evaluated, not to mention the additional court costs and so on.  The attorneys will prosecute the case and the officers must follow up.  This opioid “disaster” that we are in is present throughout our great country. It has been responsible for a rise in deaths, lack of healthy employees, families breaking down, rise in crime, lack of respect for our government, and unnecessary overtime for our law enforcement, emergency medical teams, department of social services, hospitals and more.

So, what can we as citizens do to help?  Captain Whisnant says to educate ourselves on the facts, be advocates for growth and reach out to our public safety officials to stay informed. Awareness is key. Help hold your community responsible by spreading the word that we will not stand for this epidemic to grow any further. And finally, having the understanding that every addicted person is just someone who is lacking hope, and searching for something to fill a void in their hearts. I truly believe that if we do our very best to walk with compassion and love, instead of rejection and hate, hurting people will take note and we will all begin to heal.  

Dana Joy can be reached at: dana@burkecountyvoice.com