LAKEPORT, Calif. – The SafeRx program of AmeriCorps VISTA will present “The Opioid Epidemic: What it is, and how it affects you and your community" on Saturday, Oct. 20, at two branches of the Lake County Library.
The first presentation will be held at 11 a.m. at Redbud Library 14785 Burns Valley Road in Clearlake.
The second presentation will take place at 2 p.m. at Lakeport Library, 1425 N High St. in Lakeport.
At the presentations, guests will be able to sign up for training in use of naloxone, or Narcan, the opioid overdose reversal agent.
“So far, the wave of Chinese fentanyl has not hit California, but we are starting to see the changeover from prescription opioid overdose to illegal street drug overdose here in Lake County,” said Lisa Hardy of SafeRx.
Data from the Centers for Disease Control show that the 2017 opioid prescription rate in Lake County, the most recent data available, was 95 prescriptions per 100 Lake County residents.
In Lake County, from 2014 through 2017, 63 people died of opioid overdoses.
The California Department of Public Health publishes statistics on opioid use by county at https://discovery.cdph.ca.gov/CDIC/ODdash.
The SafeRx website http://saferxlakecounty.org offers alternatives to prescription drugs and other resources for pain management.
The Lake County Library is on the Internet at http://library.lakecountyca.gov and Facebook at www.facebook.com/LakeCountyLibrary.
Jan Cook is a library technician with the Lake County Library.
Lake County Library to host Oct. 20 presentations on opioid crisis
- Jan Cook
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