Panel at Sonoma State University tackles drug addiction issues facing Sonoma County

With the scourge of opioid abuse taking a rising toll on Sonoma County residents, leaders in health policy along with local and federal representatives gathered Tuesday in Rohnert Park to highlight the troubling trend and call for greater government collaboration in addressing drug addiction.

Rep. Mike Thompson, D-St. Helena, who convened the forum at Sonoma State University, said the gathering of experts was meant to inform him and the wider public about a surge in North Bay opioid use that officials are describing as an epidemic.

“This is an issue that impacts our entire community - across the country and right here at home,” Thompson said. “It affects the lives of friends, of family members, and individuals - ourselves. It costs a lot of money, and we need to make progress.”

Sonoma County’s rate of emergency room visits for opioid overdoses shot up by 73 percent during the latest reported three-year period, 2012-2014, to 17.3 visits per 100,000 people, according to the county Department of Health Services.

In 2014, more than 470 county residents were treated for drug overdoses and released, while 191 were hospitalized, with nearly a third of the stays resulting from opiates, including pharmaceutical opioids and heroin, according to the county health agency. Based on average figures from the three preceding years, up to 44 people died from drug overdoses in 2014, according to the agency.

Sonoma County Supervisor Shirlee Zane said the trend had significant implications for health care, and how patients are prescribed painkillers.

“We really have an epidemic in terms of opioid use, and we need to look at how are we managing chronic pain, and who’s actually giving access,” said Zane, seated next to Thompson on the panel. “We’re working with all of our health care providers to have a uniform set of procedures and policies in terms of how we administer the (opioids) and how we follow up with people, too, to make sure there isn’t the abuse.”

A recent county report showed that one in four county residents had an opioid prescription in 2014, a figure that local health officials find alarming as the nation confronts an upsurge in prescription drug abuse.

Thompson said the issue touches close to home in his district and in his family.

“I have two family members: a son, who is a deputy sheriff, and he deals with the law enforcement side of this on a daily basis, and my wife is a nurse practitioner, and she deals with the health side of this, so she sees both the human cost of it as well as the impact to our health care facilities,” he said.

About 60 people turned up for the Tuesday morning meeting on drug addiction and the dangers of self-medication. Panelists included leaders in public health policy, as well as local advocates for mental health and addiction treatment services.

Among the panelists was Garen Staglin, owner of Napa-based Staglin Family Vineyard, and founder of the One Mind Institute, which has raised more than $200 million to fund brain research through the annual Music Festival for Brain Health. Staglin’s adult son, Brandon, was in attendance, too. In 1990, at the age of 18, he was diagnosed with schizophrenia, a diagnosis that brought the Staglins into the field of brain research.

The younger Staglin, after speaking to the audience about his diagnosis and history of self-medication with alcohol, asked the panel of experts about recent research that shows using marijuana can help alleviate schizophrenic symptoms, but also might cause them to come about if used at an early age.

“That’s a very, very important question, and I don’t know if I have the full answer,” said Dr. Marina Tolou-Shams of UC San Francisco. She stressed medical reasons to delay use of marijuana until at least adulthood, as well as the problematic rise in levels of THC, the psychoactive compound that gives marijuana users a high.

Among others in attendance were Irene Peña and Marbell Alvarez who together work with El Puente, a division of Lifeworks of Sonoma County, which cares for at-risk and gang-affiliated youth and their families. Peña works with youth, and Alvarez works to educate parents, and both were on hand to learn about programs the county offers to help educate their clients about drug abuse.

“Many times there is such a lack of awareness from parents regarding so many issues, and drug abuse and substance abuse is one of them,” Peña said.

“Parents don’t have a lot of education regarding drug abuse or how to prevent that, or what conversations they can have with their kids regarding drugs,” Alvarez said. “They don’t have a lot of education about where to go, about resources. ... It is one of the biggest issues we have in Sonoma County.”

You can reach Staff Writer Christi Warren at 521-5205 or christi.warren@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @SeaWarren.