Opioids Dialogue Report

2018 Deliberative Dialogue Topic: What should we do about the Opioid epidemic?

In 2018, CAN hosted a series of Deliberative Dialogues focused on the issue of how to address the opioid epidemic. Drug abuse, a problem the United States has faced for decades, has taken a sharp and lethal turn with the rise of Opioids – both legal pain killers such as oxycodone and fentanyl and illegal ones like heroin. In 2015 and 2016, there were 299 deaths in the City of Austin that were attributed to drug overdose and 191 of these deaths were opioid related. Dialogue participants explored options for addressing the Opioid epidemic, discussed possible solutions, and considered the trade-offs involved for each. The facilitated conversations helped participants to better understand the issue from a variety of perspectives and learned what other community members think and feel about the issue.

Click Here to view the issue guide that was used for these community dialogues.

Watch the introductory video that was used during the community dialogues on addressing the opioids epidemic.

The following are a data summary on the issue, a resource guide for treatment and recovery and the summary of the dialogues that were held.

State health officials released a new website that they hope will help educate people about prescription opioid misuse and encourage safe disposal of unused medications. The website, “Dose of Reality,” is available at doseofreality.texas.gov and is available in English and Spanish.

 

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