Note
In March 2016, King County Executive Dow Constantine, Seattle Mayor Ed Murray, Renton Mayor Denis Law and Auburn Mayor Nancy Backus announced the formation of a Task Force of subject matter experts and stakeholders to confront the epidemics of heroin and prescription opioid addiction and overdose in King County. Task Force members represented multiple entities, including the University of Washington Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute (ADAI), behavioral health services providers, hospitals, human service agencies, the recovery community, criminal justice partners, first responders, and others.
Summary
Opioid prescribing has increased significantly since the mid-1990s and has been paralleled by increases in pharmaceutical opioid misuse and opioid use disorder, heroin use, and fatal overdoses. These increases in morbidity and mortality were seen among those who were prescribed opioids and those who were not. When opioid prescribing began decreasing between 2005-2010, the number of teens in Washington State reporting use of these medicines to “get high” also decreased. As pharmaceutical opioids became less available, some people with opioid use disorder switched to heroin because of its greater availability and lower cost. Heroin, however, brings with it higher risks for overdose, infectious disease and, because it is illegal, incarceration. While these dynamics have affected individuals of all age groups, the impact is particularly striking for adolescents and young adults, with research indicating that youth ages 14-15 represent the peak time of initiation of opioid misuse. Since 2005, this young cohort has represented much of the increase in heroin-involved deaths and treatment admissions in King County and Washington State. There is an urgent need for action. Fortunately, a variety of evidence-based interventions exist that have demonstrated effectiveness at helping individuals reduce opioid use and decrease related harms. Identifying creative ways to expand the use of, and access to, effective interventions is paramount to curbing the effects of heroin and other opioids in the community. This report provides a summary of the Task Force group’s recommendations to both prevent opioid addiction and improve opioid use disorder outcomes in King County.