NKY Roundup: Cities step up fight against heroin

Cities across Northern Kentucky are stepping up their fight against heroin. This weekend Erlanger and Union will hold events to create awareness on this issue.

Heroin education day

The City of Erlanger is the latest city to team up with Kenton County, The Northern Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy, Planning Development Services and the Northern Kentucky Health Department to take on the heroin crisis by creating a public awareness campaign.

Other cities that have held education days include Crestview Hills and Taylor Mill.

Working together with the county organizations, Erlanger will join the campaign with a door-to-door drive on Sunday, May 21, to distribute nearly 10,000 informational door hangers to residents throughout the city. Volunteers will canvass the neighborhoods placing the door hangers. Volunteers are encouraged to meet at the Erlanger City Building, 505 Commonwealth Avenue, Erlanger, KY 41018, at 12:30 p.m.

Kenton County, in collaboration with the Northern Kentucky Office of Drug Control, Kenton County Detention Center and Boone and Campbell Counties, has created a regional heroin helpline to provide quick response for first responders to intervene with individuals and deal with overdoses.

The helpline number is 859-415-9280 and is staffed 24 hours a day.

St. Elizabeth Medical Center handled more than 1,100 overdose emergencies in 2015, more than 200 drug-related deaths, and more than 100 babies were born to addicted mothers. The crisis is striking every city and neighborhood, regardless of socio-economic lines.

Community partners working with county leaders have taken the following steps so far this year to tackle the growing problem:

• Creation of the Northern Kentucky Office of Drug Control Policy, led by Rep. Kim Moser, that is mapping out a strategic plan for how our region can attack this epidemic.
• A nationally recognized substance abuse treatment program at the Kenton County Detention Center started by Jailer Terry Carl that is currently working with 125 men and women, making it one of the largest treatment facilities in Northern Kentucky.
• Regional Heroin Helpline – 859-415-9280 – that has already been recognized as a model in the commonwealth for helping folks get treatment.
• Boone, Campbell and Kenton counties have been added to the federally-designated Ohio High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, to make additional resources available to local law enforcement agencies.
• Establishing a Quick Response Team, mixing the best qualities of multiple first responder agencies, to intervene with individuals who have previously overdosed.

Planning Development Services has provided assistance by mapping the city into sub-areas, making it easy for volunteers to fan out into the neighborhoods at the kick-off event on Sunday.

For more information, or to volunteer to distribute door hangers, RSVP to Kenton County Fiscal Court’s Digital Communications Coordinator Sara Sgantas at Sara.Sgantas@KentonCounty.org or by calling 859-392-1400.

Union conducts heroin awareness campaign

Union will be conducting a public awareness campaign to combat heroin use in Northern Kentucky.

The campaign will be held 1-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday, May 20-21, weather permitting, throughout the city.

Volunteers will be going door-to-door to distribute flyers which highlight relevant statistics and information regarding heroin and opioid abuse and provide information for individuals seeking to break the cycle of addiction.

The City of Union will be the first city in Boone County to conduct such a campaign. 

The city is actively seeking volunteers to help with flyer distribution. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Commissioner Eric Dulaney at edulaney@cityofunionky.org or at 859-384-1511.

More information regarding the awareness campaign can be found on the city's website www.cityofunionky.org or by contacting Communications and Operations Coordinator Melissa Hinkle at melissah@cityofunionky.org or 859-384-1511.

Have NKY news? Contact Melissa Reinert at mreinert@enquirer.com or on Twitter at @MReinertReports.