October is National Substance Abuse Prevention Month (NSAPM), an annual observance focused on raising public awareness and encouraging communities to take action and get involved to prevent substance abuse. In response to this call to action, the Gaston College Health and Human Services Technology Substance Abuse Program is sponsoring a community event entitled National Substance Abuse Prevention Month Awareness: Opioid Epidemic in Our Community. At the Gaston College event, Dr. Todd Davis, Chief Medical Officer for CaroMont Health, will address the history and pharmacology of opioids, addiction, and the opioid epidemic in our community. Dr. Davis currently serves on the Boards for the Community Blood Center of the Carolinas and Gaston Together, and is a member of the Controlled Substances Coalition to combat the opioid crisis in Gaston County. He will share information about opioids, their effects on the brain, and risks for addiction. Dr. Davis will also discuss the permanent changes that occur to people with addiction, practical things that can be done to reduce the likelihood of addiction and talk about the challenges our community, Gaston and Lincoln County, and society are facing with this issue and what the community is doing to proactively manage the problem. There will be a question and answer session following his presentation. According to the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, from 1999 to 2016 more than 12,000 North Carolinians died from opioid-related overdoses, the majority of which were unintentional overdoses. A recent Duke University study found that the state experienced an 800 percent increase in opioid deaths in this period of time, with Gaston County’s increase measured at more than 1,300 percent. In addition to Dr Davis, Mr. Nazrul and Mrs. Tammy Chowdhury will provide a brief presentation on" Remembering Austin" based on their experience as parents who experienced the loss of their son from an opioid overdose. Dr. Davis and the Chowdhurys are members of the Gaston Controlled Substances Coalition. Attendees will receive free information pamphlets provided by Partners Behavioral Health Management.
Monday Oct 29, 2018
12:30 PM - 1:30 PM EDT
Monday, October 29, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m
The Gaston College Dallas Campus at 201 Highway 321 South, Dallas, N.C. The event takes place in the Myers Center Multipurpose Auditorium
Free and open to the public.
For more information, contact Ann Elliott at 704 922-2382 or elliott.ann@gaston.edu.
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