Town hall to discuss opioid and heroin abuse in Cedar Rapids

CEDAR RAPIDS - Unlike many other drugs, the first step on the road to opioid or heroin addiction can start innocently enough.

For Janet Andrews' husband, it started with shoulder pain. From there, things only got worse.

'Our lives spiraled out of control,” she said.

Andrews said her husband hurt his shoulder in 2005. He was put in prescription pain relievers off and on after his surgery in 2006. When he suffered withdrawals from the pills, Andrews said husbands' family doctor told him he couldn't quit 'cold turkey” and prescribed more pain killers, as well as depression and anxiety medications to help wean him off. A second surgery in 2007 turned into a full-blown addiction that Andrews didn't uncover until she found a box of empty pill bottles prescribed by four different doctors and filled by three pharmacies.

Andrews called each doctor - two agreed to stop prescribing her husband the pain relieving opiates. The pharmacies ignored her, she said.

'I just felt like no one would listen,” she said, tears welling in her eyes. 'I had nobody to help me get him help.”

A short stint in rehab didn't help. Janet eventually took her son and left. Threats and a restraining order followed. In January 2015, Andrew's ex-husband took his own life. The Gazette does not identify suicide victims.

Andrews will share her story Wednesday night at the Cedar Rapids Public Library as part of a town-hall meeting on prescription pain killers and the heroin epidemic. The meeting is being hosted by the Eastern Iowa Heroin Initiative, a federally funded program. The initiative has a three-pronged approach to combating the spread of opioid and heroin abuse: prevention, prosecution and treatment, according to Al Fear, a Cedar Rapids Police Officer assigned to the U.S. Attorney's Office as the coordinator for the initiative.

Fear and Kevin Techau, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District, said the town hall meeting will give participants a look at the current state of opioid abuse and heroin addiction both nationally and federally. Last year in Cedar Rapids, police responded to 61 overdoses and 10 heroin-related deaths. Hospitals reported 85 emergency room admissions, 157 inpatient admissions and 88 outpatient admissions for heroin, leading authorities to estimate less than a third of heroin overdoses are reported to police.

As heroin moves westward across the county and state - Linn, Johnson and Black Hawk counties account for 44 percent of the Iowa State Criminalistics Laboratory's heroin submissions, but only 15.8 percent of the state's population - authorities believe it's possible to address the growing problem before in reaches the proportions of harder hit states.

'We're not there yet,” said Techau. 'But, things are trending the wrong way.”

What the town hall will discuss and part of Fear's duties as the initiative coordinator, are some of the approaches to the heroin and opioid problem. Techau and others have traveled to Madison-Dade County in Wisconsin - a region that saw significant spikes in opioid-related deaths - to discuss what had worked there. One tactic local authorities are exploring is creating a network for parents to give them resources on intervention, treatment and recovery for their loved ones. The initiative also aims to put a prescription pill drop box in every county in Iowa.

Fear said his goal is to shift the attitude in law enforcement about heroin and prescription drug abuse from one of prosecution to a recovery-based mind-set.

'Rather than put them in jail, we put them on the road to recovery” through treatment programs, Fear said.

The program also will discuss different treatment and prevention opportunities, Techau said. There will be a question-and-answer session for participants, as well.

'We're in a position where we can impact (opioid abuse) before we get to that tipping point,” Techau said.

Wednesday's program starts at 7 p.m. in the Whipple Auditorium. Fear said there will be additional town hall meetings in the future in other counties, including Linn and Black Hawk. More information about the program can be found on the Eastern Iowa Heroin Initiative's Facebook page.