Pubdate: Fri, 19 Dec 2003 Source: Sun Herald (MS) Copyright: 2003, The Sun Herald Contact: http://www.sunherald.com Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/432 Author: Robin Fitzgerald, The Sun Herald Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topics/Purdue+Pharma Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?232 ( Chronic Pain ) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/oxycontin.htm (Oxycontin/Oxycodone) $25K GRANT WOULD TARGET DRUG ABUSE GULFPORT - The company that makes OxyContin is offering a $25,000 grant if Harrison County will pay remaining costs for a prescription drug abuse prevention program. Purdue Pharma is offering the grant in partnership with a science-based program that studies a community's risks among youths, offers training and plans specific actions. OxyContin, a painkiller, is associated with a growing number of overdoses and related abuse problems. A cross-section of leaders from related agencies heard details Thursday. The committee agreed that they need more information before making a decision. They also will need at least $15,000 for related costs. "We don't have an umbrella agency like the Jackson County Children's Services Coalition for a unified approach that brings representatives from all related agencies to the table," said Fred Walker, chairman of the Long Beach Substance Abuse Task Force. "This is a start," he said. About 120 people in Harrison County have died of prescription drug overdoses in the past three years, said Gulfport Police Capt. Pat Pope. "We're working toward a statewide prescription database that would make it easier to identify prescription fraud and people who need help," he said. "But we need law enforcement, the courts, schools, social services and related agencies talking to each other." The more than 30 people attending the forum at the Harrison County Adult Detention Center shared concerns, such as the success of the program in other communities. They appointed a panel that will provide answers Jan. 15. The program, Communities That Care, identifies risk factors among youths, such as substance abuse, teen pregnancy, delinquency, school dropouts and violence, said representatives of the Channing Bete Company, which administers the program. "There are 20 proven risk factors that are predictors of problem behavior," said David B. Henshaw of Channing Bete. "If you address those issues and change their behavior, you change their lives for the better." Mobile County, Ala., joined the partnership Wednesday and committed $54,000 to the program. "We don't want to sell ourselves short," said Richard Rose, Gulfport Ward 2 councilman. "It may take more than $15,000 for us to achieve what we want to do." Some of the school representatives said they didn't know the Gulf Coast Mental Health Center has a $300,000 grant for drug prevention programs in schools. "That just illustrates how we need to do a better job of communicating," Walker said. Sheriff George H. Payne, whose agency co-sponsored the forum with the Long Beach task force, said 80 percent of the more than 900 inmates at county jail are there because of drug problems. "We need a holistic approach," he said. GULFPORT - The company that makes OxyContin is offering a $25,000 grant if Harrison County will pay remaining costs for a prescription drug abuse prevention program. Purdue Pharma is offering the grant in partnership with a science-based program that studies a community's risks among youths, offers training and plans specific actions. OxyContin, a painkiller, is associated with a growing number of overdoses and related abuse problems. A cross-section of leaders from related agencies heard details Thursday. The committee agreed that they need more information before making a decision. They also will need at least $15,000 for related costs. "We don't have an umbrella agency like the Jackson County Children's Services Coalition for a unified approach that brings representatives from all related agencies to the table," said Fred Walker, chairman of the Long Beach Substance Abuse Task Force. About 120 people in Harrison County have died of prescription drug overdoses in the past three years, said Gulfport Police Capt. Pat Pope. "We're working toward a statewide prescription database that would make it easier to identify prescription fraud and people who need help," he said. "But we need law enforcement, the courts, schools, social services and related agencies talking to each other." The more than 30 people attending the forum at the Harrison County Adult Detention Center shared concerns, such as the success of the program in other communities. They appointed a panel that will provide answers Jan. 15. The program, Communities That Care, identifies risk factors among youths, such as substance abuse, teen pregnancy, delinquency, school dropouts and violence, said representatives of the Channing Bete Company, which administers the program. "There are 20 proven risk factors that are predictors of problem behavior," said David B. Henshaw of Channing Bete. "If you address those issues and change their behavior, you change their lives for the better." Mobile County, Ala., joined the partnership Wednesday and committed $54,000 to the program. "We don't want to sell ourselves short," said Richard Rose, Gulfport Ward 2 councilman. "It may take more than $15,000 for us to achieve what we want to do." Some of the school representatives said they didn't know the Gulf Coast Mental Health Center has a $300,000 grant for drug prevention programs in schools. "That just illustrates how we need to do a better job of communicating," Walker said. Sheriff George H. Payne, whose agency co-sponsored the forum with the Long Beach task force, said 80 percent of the more than 900 inmates at county jail are there because of drug problems. "We need a holistic approach," he said. [sidebar] WHO THEY ARE Fred Walker, businessman and chairman of the Long Beach Substance Abuse Task Force, was selected Thursday to chair a panel that will review the success of a prescription drug abuse prevention program offered in about 400 communities. Panel members and who they represent: Lisa Crain, Gulf Coast Mental Health Center. Roland Flowers, DARE officer, Pass Christian Police Department. Mitchell King, assistant superintendent, Harrison County School District. Capt. Rick Kirk, chief of criminal investigations, Biloxi Police Department. The Rev. Louis Lohan, St. Thomas Catholic Church, Long Beach. Joycelyn Moody, assistant principal, Harrison Central High School. Lt. Windy Swetman III, community relations director, Harrison County Sheriff's Department. Charlie Wood, assistant district attorney. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake