The Faith-based Response to the Opioid Crisis Committee, a state and federally funded project led by Ayana Jordan, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, will sponsor a discussion aimed at supporting African Americans affected by opioid and other drug and alcohol problems on Sept. 7, 2017 at Cross Street AME Zion Church in Middletown.
The program will run from 5:30-8:00 pm. Food will be served for the first half-hour, and the discussion will begin at 6:00 pm.
Faith-based leaders and members of faith-based groups and communities from the Hartford, Waterbury, New London, Bridgeport, and New Haven areas have been invited. They will share their experiences and approaches to addressing and supporting African Americans who suffer from substance use. The public is invited.
The Faith-based Response to the Opioid Crisis Committee was formed with funding from the Connecticut Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services (DMHAS) and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). It is led by Ayana Jordan, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Yale School of Medicine and the Yale Program for Recovery and Community Health.
Jordan said the committee is targeting five cities in Connecticut where the Black community has been especially impacted by the ravages of drugs and alcohol. These cities are Bridgeport, Waterbury, New London, Hartford, and New Haven. Middletown was selected to host the group’s inaugural meeting because of its central location.
We want to partner with the faith communities in those regions to really decrease substance use and increase access to treatment.
Ayana Jordan, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
“We want to partner with the faith communities in those regions to really decrease substance use and increase access to treatment,” Jordan said.
The meeting coincides with a recent report by the Office of the Chief State Medical Examiner that reveals the number of opioid-related deaths in the state this year is projected to exceed 1,000 people, more than the previous year’s record of 917 deaths.
Gov. Dannel P. Malloy on Aug. 31 signed new legislation aimed at increasing oversight of prescriptions for painkillers. A bill last year requires first responders to carry drugs that provide emergency treatment for suspected opioid overdoses.