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00000174-c556-d691-a376-cdd69e980000Day after day, week after week, the headlines in Northeast Ohio and across much of the country contain news of tragic loss: lives lost to opioids. It’s a problem that knows no bounds: geography, race, gender, level of education or income.The problem took on new urgency this summer as the powerful elephant sedative, Carfentanil, began hitting the streets. First responders armed with their only weapon, the overdose antidote Naloxone, have struggled to keep up with what’s become an overwhelming problem. It’s an issue that’s straining public and social resources. What has become clear is that business as usual is not going to fix the problem.WKSU news has been covering the unfolding crisis. Tuesdays during Morning Edition, the WKSU news team digs even deeper. WKSU reporters will examine what’s led us here and what might be done to turn the tide. Support for Opioids: Turning the Tide in the Crisis comes from Wayne Savings Community Bank, Kent State University Office of Continuing and Distance Education, Hometown Grocery Delivery, Mercy Medical Center, AxessPointe Community Health Center, Community Support Services, Inc., Medina County District Library and Hudson Community First.00000174-c556-d691-a376-cdd69e980001

Stark County Gets Money to Expand Medication-Assisted Addiction Treatment

photo of Stark County Mental Health and Addiction Recovery logo
STARK COUNTY MENTAL HEALTH AND ADDICTION RECOVERY

Stark County will be able to treat nearly a thousand more patients for opioid addiction after receiving a federal grant.

The $615,000will be used to expand access to opioid-recovery drugs such as suboxone and methdone  in Canton, Massillon and Alliance. The money will also allow the county to work with local hospitals to establish peer recovery programs.

JOHN ALLER
Credit M.L. SCHULTZE / WKSU
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WKSU
John Aller says treatment is multi-pronged.

John Aller is the executive director of Stark County Mental Health and Addiction Recovery board.

“As you give people Narcan, which allows an overdose to be reversed so they don’t die, then you need to make sure that you’re able to provide quick access to them to start getting them into treatment so they can hopefully then move through that recovery process.”

Last year, the county had 118 overdose deaths, with 85 caused by heroin or fentanyl.

The funds come from the federal 21st Century Cures Act, which provides nearly a billion dollars in grants to fight opioid abuse across the country.