As Opioid Epidemic Escalates, Focus Turns To Once-Obscure ‘Sober Homes’
The homes provide a substance-free, supervised setting for recovering addicts. However, some worry there is little regulation over them. "The ones that are good are fantastic," says Pam Rodriguez, CEO of Treatment Alternatives for Safe Communities. But she also cautions that there are "people exploiting the vulnerability of the population and their desperation to find a safe place to live."
The Associated Press:
Addiction Epidemic Fuels Runaway Demand For 'Sober Homes'
The nation's epidemic of addiction to painkillers and heroin is fueling runaway demand for a once-obscure form of housing known as "sober homes," where recovering addicts live together in a supervised, substance-free setting to ease their transition back to independence. The facilities are rarely run by credentialed professionals and are only lightly regulated — a situation that has prompted at least five states to pass or consider legislation to impose basic rules on how they operate. Some homes have been accused of tolerating drug use and participating in insurance fraud. (4/6)
The Associated Press:
At Chicago Sober Home, Help With Recovery Comes With Rules
On a recent morning, Henry McGhee checked in on the residents of one of the four sober homes he owns in Chicago. He’s been in business 15 years and estimates he’s provided housing for more than 8,000 people, many of them black men who completed prison terms for drug crimes. The Associated Press toured one of McGhee’s homes — a small apartment building in a tidy working-class neighborhood — to get a look at a growing segment of an industry responding to strong demand for addiction treatment. (Johnson, 4/6)
News outlets also offer coverage of the epidemic out of Washington, New Hampshire, Florida, Iowa, California and Illinois —
City & Country:
Cities Considering ‘Safe Sites’ For Hard Drug Use
To stem its rising tide of drug overdose deaths, Seattle is among a growing number of cities considering public facilities where addicts can use hard drugs like heroin under medical supervision. The move is indicative of a shifting perception on how the problem of addiction should be managed. (Prall, 4/6)
The Concord Monitor:
Board Of Medicine Finalizes Changes To New Opioid Prescribing Rules
The New Hampshire Board of Medicine moved closer to putting stronger opioid prescribing rules in place on Wednesday. The new rules, which come amid the state’s heroin and opioid epidemic, offer a stricter framework for doctors who prescribe opioids to patients with chronic and acute pain. (Nilsen, 4/6)
Health News Florida:
State Law Enforcement Issues Warning As Lethal Street Pill Hits Central Florida
A street pill that looks like it came straight from the pharmacist is causing deaths in Orlando. State law enforcement officials discovered the so-called super pill recently, and they are warning residents to keep from buying pain killers on the black market. (Sago, 4/6)
Iowa Public Radio:
Emergency Overdose Medication More Widely Available
Gov. Terry Branstad signed a bill Wednesday that allows families, friends and first responders in Iowa to administer an emergency medication that counteracts the effects of an opiod overdose. (Boden, 4/6)
The Sacramento Bee:
Sacramento County Fentanyl Overdoses Now At 48
The number of overdoses linked to the potent painkiller fentanyl has grown by six over the past two days to 48, nearly two weeks after the first reports of such overdoses began popping up in the Sacramento region, the Sacramento County Department of Health and Human Services reported Wednesday. No additional deaths have been reported, leaving the region’s fentanyl-linked death toll at 10. (Buck, 4/6)
Rockford Register Star:
Heroin Antidote Soon To Be Sold In Rockford Pharmacies
Trained pharmacists statewide soon will be able to dispense the overdose reversal drug naloxone without a prescription.
Regulators announced Monday that a short web-based training program is available to pharmacists who want to help reduce deaths from heroin and painkillers. (Green, 4/6)
