StarkMHAR cites 'harm reduction' as vital to substance abuse recovery

CANTON − Mental health professionals are raising awareness to show "harm reduction" is not about encouraging people to abuse alcohol and drugs, but to save their lives so they can be directed to resources and treatment.

Stark County Mental Health & Addiction Recovery, also known as StarkMHAR, is partnering with local public-health departments and social service agencies to distribute items to reduce the risk of overdose deaths.

Justina Gorman, StarkMHAR's coalition and community development coordinator, describes harm reduction as part of a broader continuum of treatment.

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"Harm reduction is really about offering a practical set of tools to help prevent overdose and infectious disease," she said. "The approach itself is really about kindness and compassion and support for people who use drugs. It's really an effort used to keep them alive until they can access longer treatment, and get into recovery."

StarkMHAR Executive Director John Aller said he's aware that the term "harm reduction" is often misunderstood, but its purpose, he said, is to keep people alive so they can be connected to treatment.

"Any strategy that we're doing around harm reduction, we're always trying to couple that with giving people information and allowing them to access treatment," he said. "So it's not a one-off strategy. We're always doing that strategy and combining it with giving them resources where they can access service or even having people on-site that can connect them, though what we hear is that a lot of these services enable abuse."

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No decline in overdoses

Gorman said she's heard the same criticisms.

"That's not the case at all," she said. "Like John said, it's really about keeping them alive and being nonjudgmental as you approach people who use drugs, and just continuously offering those opportunities for support and connections to other additional services that they need and want when they're ready."

Allyson Rey, director of marketing, communications and community relations at StarkMHAR, and Erin Ivers, recovery program manager, both said a big part part of StarkMHAR's mission has been to de-stigmatize addiction.

It's one reason why they don't refer to people as "addicts," Rey said.

In partnership with Project D.A.W.N., which stands for Death Avoided With Naloxone, public health departments, Coleman Crisis, Stark County Treatment Accountability for Safer Communities and other organizations, StarkMHAR has focused on increasing accessibility to Naloxone over the last few years, Gorman said.

She added that Narcan, a brand of Naloxone nasal spray, has been available in Stark County for about 10 years.

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But the risk of overdose is not in decline. In 2019, 2,133 Naloxone kits were distributed. In 2022, the number nearly doubled, to 4,358 kits, Gorman said.

In recent years, 40 wall-mounted "Nalox Boxes," containing Naloxone emergency kits, have been installed in high-risk areas where overdoses are occurring, based on ZIP codes. The Stark County Health Department has a locator map of the boxes on its website.

Aller said deciding where to place the supplies is done through empirical data. For the first half of 2023, 90 Stark County residents died from an overdose, he said. That's up from the same period in 2022, when 70 people died.

"With the collaboration between the health departments and us, the agencies, and just the community, we're really just trying to make some data-informed decisions about where we place things," he said. "Generally, looking at our data, (the problem) does not seem to be getting better."

Gorman noted many deaths are the result of "poly-substances," or the use of an opioid in combination with a stimulant such as cocaine or methamphetamine.

That's where fentanyl test strips come into play, she said.

What is a harm reduction supply machine, and how does it work?

"Most recently, we installed two harm-reduction supplies vending machines that contain Naloxone and fentanyl test strips, and a lot of the harm-reduction supplies that people need," Gorman said.

Following successful pilot programs in Las Vegas and Cincinnati, TASC secured a grant to purchase three harm reduction supply machines, a self-serve vending machine that contains free supplies of Narcan, test strips for Fentanyl and Xylazine, safe-sex and hygiene items, a Sharps container to dispose of used needles, and first-aid kits.

Recipients also are given information about where they can get treatment.

People who wish to access the supplies must first register by calling TASC at 330-417-5901. After a brief survey, callers receive a code to open the machine. Codes are good for 90 days, after which they can re-register. No IDs are required. All contact is confidential.

Effective Sept. 1, the number can be accessed on a 24-hour basis. Until then, all calls after hours will be automatically transferred to the Opiate Hotline for registration at 330-454-4357.

Machines are located at Refuge of Hope, a men's emergency shelter and hot-meal mission at 715 Second St. NE, and outside the Massillon City Health Department at 611 Erie St. S.

A third is being installed at The Commons at 405 S. Linden Ave. in Alliance.

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At Refuge of Hope, the vending machine was accessed 283 times from its installation in mid-April through the end of June, said mission Development Director Jo Ann Carpenter.

Carpenter said the pin numbers help to track items that are distributed.

"The name says a lot in what were trying to prevent," she said. "The information they receive all goes back to what we're trying to do as a community. That is, to save lives."

Carpenter and Kristie Woods, the mission's director of community relations, said Refuge of Hope was selected because it is in a high-traffic area that includes the SARTA transfer station.

"The new concern is Xylazine (a tranquilizer used by veterinarians)," Woods said. "It's more deadly than Fentanyl. You can overdose from a grain-of-salt amount.

Woods said those who use the phone number to access the assistance receive high-quality help.

"The message is, we're not judging you; you are helping someone else," she said. "Addiction is a beast. Just because someone is struggling with addiction, or relapses, they don't deserve to die because the temptation exists. If we can help you stay alive, we will."

To learn more contact StarkMHAR at 330-455-6644, or visit https://starkmhar.org.

Reach Charita at 330-580-8313 or charita.goshay@cantonrep.com. On Twitter: @cgoshayREP

Where to get help

Opiate Task Line: 330-454-4357.

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 800-273-8255, or dial "988"

Stark County Crisis Hotline: 330-452-6000

Stark County Crisis Text Line: Text "4hope" at 741-741

Trevor Project Lifeline for LGBTQIA Youth: 866-488-7386

Trans Lifeline: 877-565-8860

Military and Veterans Crisis Line: 800-273-8255

Military and Veteran Crisis Text Line: 838255, press 1

CommQuest Detox at Aultman: 330-830-3393

Domestic Violence Project: 330-453-7233 or 800-799-7233

This article originally appeared on The Repository: StarkMHAR cites 'harm reduction' as vital to substance abuse recovery