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2017 Wellness Expo
Lincoln Daily News Wednesday, February 15, 2017
late that their loved ones are involved in drugs.
To have a counter measure that can save the life
of an addict can bring the addiction out into the
open. Then the family and other supporters have
the opportunity to reach out to the drug user and
offer their help and support.
St. John also found some valuable partners in their
fundraising efforts.
ReNew Thrift and Consignment offers a
fundraising program through in-store sales and
agreed to ongoing fundraisers throughout the year
for the Narcan Project.
Culver’s Restaurant in Lincoln has participated in
regular fundraisers.
And, other organizations and businesses such as
the Lincoln Rotary and Logan Lanes also have
gotten involved.
By the end of 2016 the church and its many
partners had raised just over $2,500 for the Narcan
supply. The money was given to the Logan
County Department of Public Health for the
purchase of the kits specifically to be distributed
to police officers.
The use of Narcan is becoming more widely
accepted, and many communities throughout the
state are working to get the life-saving drug to first
responders.
Within some of those areas, there is an argument
that Narcan offers addicts a “free pass” in that
they know they can get high because the EMT’s
or police officers will save them. That is not the
way any one should look at this drug. Instead,
reversing a deadly overdose needs to be seen as
saving a life and giving a person a chance to get
clean; that is what the first responders want; it is
what the family of the addict wants, and hopefully,
that will also be the end goal of the drug user as
well.
In Lincoln, Police Chief Paul Adams and Lincoln
Fire Chief Mark Miller say that they now have
Narcan in the police squads as well as the EMT
response vehicle at the fire department, and both
departments have utilized the drugs to reverse
overdoses in the last year; proving there is a need
and the drug is effective.
Treatment and recovery
With a second chance before them, the next
hurdle for a drug user is to choose to seek help.
However, choosing to seek help and treatment for
addiction comes with a new set of roadblocks.
In Logan County there are no treatment centers
for addiction. Addicts have access to treatment
centers through referrals from local authorities
or medical professionals, but getting to the
appropriate center can be the challenge.
The Heroin Task Force realized that another step
to recovery where drug users need help is getting
transportation to centers. To address this, the task
force set out to raise money to pay transportation
costs.
General Opioid Treatment Assistance Fund
The task force has established a fund that
works through local police departments to get
those seeking treatment for addiction to an
Continued
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