SALT LAKE CITY — Utah will receive nearly $24 million in federal funding to combat the state’s opioid crisis — where its number of opioid deaths ranks 21st in the nation — by expanding access to treatment and gathering data on the drug overdose crisis.
On Wednesday, the Trump administration announced it is awarding more than $1.8 billion in grants to help states and local governments battle the opioid crisis, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Opioids and their destructive impact on Utah communities was the subject of a town hall meeting discussion among local and state leaders at the Rose Wagner Performing Arts Center on Wednesday evening.
At the event — organized by KSL TV and KSL Newsradio, local radio stations KRSP-FM and KSFI, the Salt Lake County’s Sheriff’s Office, Salt Lake County District Attorney’s Office, and Salt Lake County — Destiny Garcia, Salt Lake County constituent affairs and volunteer services coordinator, shared her journey to recovery.
After leaving an abusive relationship of seven years, Garcia turned to doctors who prescribed her pain and sleeping pills, muscle relaxers, and anxiety medication for injuries she sustained by her partner.
Over time she developed an opioid addiction that consumed every aspect of her life.
It overtook her self worth, her home and her role as a mother, she said.
After multiple stints in and out of jail, police who arrested her told her to ask about recovery programs. After qualifying for and receiving treatment, Garcia said she’s been sober for two years and is on recovery road.
“There is a community out there that is huge. There’s groups out there, communities out there, that are willing to jump in there and help pull you out of that darkness,” Garcia said.
Salt Lake County Mayor Jenny Wilson told the audience it’s clear the opioid crisis is “the public health crisis of our time.”
The first time Wilson heard of someone becoming addicted to opioids after getting a wisdom tooth removed, it seemed like an exaggeration to her.
“We now look at the devastation in this community, in this state, in this nation, of this disease and I think there was that moment where we as a community in various ways began to rally.” Wilson said.
The majority of the funding announced for Utah Wednesday, more than $20 million, will come from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will give the Utah Health Department more than $3.8 million to advance the understanding of the opioid overdose epidemic and increase prevention and response efforts.
“Opioid overdoses continue to be a public health issue for our state. We are grateful for these additional funds to continue with our prevention efforts,” said Utah Department of Health spokeswoman Jenny Johnson. “We still have a long way to go in solving the issues around misuse, abuse, and overdose from opioids, but we are making progress.”
Additionally, it was announced that Salt Lake County is one of six communities across the nation to be awarded a two-year, $600,000 grant from the U.S. Bureau of Justice Assistance.
“It will help us collect, share and analyze data on this issue,” Wilson said, adding that evidence-based practices were needed to tackle the issue.
Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera said her officers are seeing an increase in use of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid pain reliever, in Salt Lake County.
Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill agreed with Rivera in saying every aspect of the criminal justice system has been overwhelmed by the opioid epidemic.
“We’re starting to see evolution from heroin to fentanyl-laced drugs that are coming in because they’re more powerful and cheaper,” Gill said.
In a six-year period, Gill said, a total of 240 million pills were introduced into Salt Lake County — or at least 40 pills prescribed for every woman, man and child in the county.
“After these big pharma companies made their profits, they left. And they left the taxpayers with communities with a tragedy that they left behind,” he said.
David Hasleton, senior medical director at Intermountain Healthcare, said opioids can range from prescription drugs that treat pain to street heroin.
Susannah Burt, program administrator at the Utah Division of Substance Abuse and Mental Health, said it’s exciting to see more resources go into prevention and treatment for opioid addiction.
“Even though we’re seeing a lot of movement and a lot of money, what we’d love to see is more collaboration,” she said.
She said it’s up to the community to work together to combat the crisis.
James Winnefeld Jr., co-chair of the SAFE Project, said he started an organization to combat opioid drug fatalities after his 19-year-old son, Jonathon, overdosed during his first week of college in Denver.
“If we only knew now what we knew then, we would still have our son with us,” he said.
In two years, according to Rep. Ben McAdams, D-Utah, Utah went from ranking 10th in the nation to 21st for opioid deaths.
“We have a long, long way to go, but we are making progress,” McAdams said.