Tori Lubin ’18

The national opioid epidemic is making its mark in Connecticut. In the first half of 2017 alone, 539 Connecticut residents died of drug overdoses. In fact, death by drug overdoses is more common in Connecticut than homicides, suicides and motor vehicle crashes combined, according to the Hartford Courant.

The majority of these drug-related deaths are due to opioids, according to Connecticut’s Chief Medical Examiner James Gill in an interview with The Patch website. An opioid is any drug that relieves pain through the nervous system including oxycontin and heroin.

Opioid abuse and overdose, according to The Patch, is less common in Westport than it is in towns such as Hartford, New Britain, Waterbury and Bridgeport. However, it is still an issue in the Westport area, according to Molly Ashcroft, Certified Addictions Counselor and Director of Business and Admissions for Westport House, a medical center which offers recovery services for addiction victims and mental health patients in Fairfield County.

“[Opioid abuse] does not discriminate against the residents of Fairfield County,” Ashcroft said. “I would say roughly maybe 50 to 60 percent [of patients] have struggled [with] opioid abuse in some way throughout their life.” Of Clearpoint (larger umbrella organization including Westport House) patients, roughly 35 to 40 percent of them are from the town of Westport.

However, Opioid abuse is not a huge concern among Staples students, according to Staples Nurse Libby Russ. “I wouldn’t say opioid or drug use is the most prevalent issue [at Staples] but it’s certainly a factor that is concerning,” Russ said. “I think there is a concern among every student of drug use.”

In Westport, there was one reported opioid-induced death in 2016. However, a drug called Naloxone, more commonly known as “Narcan,” which brings an overdose victim back from the brink of death, has been used 15 times in Westport, according to Westport Police Lt. David Farrell in an interview with Westport Now.

According to Mark Cooper, Director of Health in the Westport/Weston area, the largest percentage of Westport/Weston residents abusing opioids are males aged 35-50, however it is also an issue among college-aged athletes.

“The concern is that [athletes] are prescribed pain relievers and it develops into more of an addictive problem later,” Cooper said. Though he said that the liberal prescription of opioids is a problem, he acknowledges that the “medical community is certainly aware” and taking care to prevent athletes from experiencing addiction.

At Clearpoint, Ashcroft deals with patients who play or played Division 1 athletics in college, and became addicted to opioids after exposure to a high amount of painkillers.

“There are astronomical amounts of opioid prescriptions given out in the millennial years,” Ashcroft said. She believes this trend is due to accessibility of drugs and changing attitudes towards drug use.

“[Opioid use is] looked at as something way more socially acceptable in these last years,” Ashcroft said.

The Teen Awareness Group (TAG) is an organization at Staples that aims to encourage students to make healthy choices, including avoiding substance abuse such as opioids.

“Given the statistics in Connecticut, there is a huge [opioid] epidemic that I hope teachers will address,” Juliana Beal ’18, one of the presidents of TAG said. “In TAG, we have our freshman health presentations, and given recent statistics, we plan on including opioids as a segment in our presentation.”