Your are cordially invited to a "Meet the Overdose Prevention & Education Task Force Meeting" Importance: High

Your are cordially invited to a "Meet the Overdose Prevention & Education Task Force Meeting"
Importance: High
Please note this important date on your calendar: Wednesday January 22nd - 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm (see location listed below)

ALL SECTORS OF THE COMMUNITY ARE WELCOME AND ENCOURAGED TO ATTEND !

Please forward this open invite to your contacts!

As you all know, the rate of opiate prescription medication and heroin abuse has skyrocketed in Bucks County over the last several years. This September alone, 63 people in Bensalem, PA have overdosed on opioid drugs like heroin and prescription pain killers. This is an issue that puts the health of our community, families and youth in jeopardy. A new report released by The Trust for America’s Health found Pennsylvania has the 14th highest rate of drug overdose deaths. The report found the Commonwealth had 15.3 overdose deaths per 100,000 residents in 2010. Most of those deaths involved the use of prescription drugs.



You are invited to come out and find out what is being done in both Bucks County as well as state wide and how to be part of not only the conversation but learn how you can be part of the solution. We will be meeting monthly at various locations throughout Bucks County for convenience of the communities. By attending, you are not required to attend future monthly meetings although you are always welcome. If you are interested in becoming a member, membership only means that you will receive monthly e-mails regarding issues related to overdoses and opioid drug use. The Task Force is also forming sub-committee’s based on areas of interest and professional experience. We welcome everyone to participate; community members, law enforcement, recovery services, medical providers, pharmacists, persons in recovery, etc.

Task Forces goals include but are not limited to:

· Educate others on the topic and save lives.

o Outreach and education creates partnerships that may then focus on other initiatives or strategies.

· Promote awareness and encourage further action.

o Actions may include getting the word out and gaining support for legislative actions such as Senator Pileggis HB 1164 – good Samaritan Act.



Please feel free to David Fialko with any and all questions at 215-230-8218 x 3162 !

January’s open meeting will be hosted by:

Livengrin Oxford Valley

195 Bristol-Oxford Valley Rd.,

Langhorne, PA 19047

Meeting time: 6:00 pm to 7:30pm

Food and beverages will be provided
February’s open Meeting will be hosted by:

Council Rock Coalition for Healthy Youth

Chancellor Center Date, and time to be announced.

Click this link for more information-Link to Overdose Advisory Board / Task Force
Sincerely,

David Fialko, BS

Prevention Specialist

The Council of Southeast Pennsylvania, Inc.

252 West Swamp Rd. Unit 33, Doylestown, PA 18901

Office: 215-230-8218 x 3162

January 9 v 6 TWELVE STEPPING WITH POWER IN THE PROVERB

Leave your simple ways and you will live; walk in the way of insight.

Step 3  We made a decision to turn our wills and our lives over to the care of God.

If you had told me this thirteen years ago I would have punched you in the face.Looking back now after many years of prayer and step work not only were my ways simple they were dangerous to self and others.You have to get over yourself when we do that this life we live is to be spent living and loving others.When we do that then we truly begin to live.

January 8v17 TWELVE STEPPING WITH POWER IN THE PROVERB
 

“I love all who love me.
Those who search will surely find me.

STEP 2 : Came to believe that God, a Power greater than ourselves, could restore us to sanity and stability.


Growing up I went to Catholic school so I was given the foundation for faith in God and Gods history was drilled into my head everyday.What I was not taught was the power that excists in a relationship with God and His son Jesus.How can something or some God I cant see or hear help me and why would he want to. My life thirteen years ago put me into a desperate position .All my personal relationships destroyed multiple bench warrants no place too live my only source of nutrition was chemical substances. I hated myself and everything I stood for.Whats the point is what my thought was ,living sucks and I am too much of a coward too off myself so what choice did I have. My sister would always tell me I am praying for you as would my mom and many others. At the most desperate point of my life ,I began to talk to God. It was no plain talk it was anger and pain as I called out to Him for help.I questioned His existence and blamed Him for the mess of my life.In the middle of my rants I asked for His help.Days and weeks had passed with no change , he did not hear me so screw it and back to being screwed up me . One year had passed and then it happened , the nagging to get wasted was not there . I missed my family ,I wanted to go home . It was so strange something had come over me and at first it didn't click my heartfelt angry arguments I had with God and my pleas for help. God opened my eyes set me free to rewrite the story. God does love you He is real and never stop praying for your day will come as did mine.

Minnesota to Test Welfare Recipients for Drugs

The Land of 10,000 Lakes becomes the latest state to throw its poorest citizens into the icy waters of uncertainty.



...unless you're on welfare. Photo via Shutterstock


By Shawn Dwyer

12/31/13
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Chalk up another one. On Wednesday, January 1st, Minnesota will become the latest state to randomly test recipients of welfare for drugs, despite overwhelming evidence that taking such measures to prevent drug users from receiving public assistance has very limited success, at best.

Added as an amendment during a 2012 legislation session with limited debate, the new law will require the state Department of Human Services to force recipients convicted of past felony drug offenses to identify themselves in order for them to be randomly tested – though the definition of “random” will vary from county to county. Since the law was based on the commonly held notion that many welfare recipients also do drugs, opponents have stepped up their criticisms in recent days. "I don't think anyone is under the illusion that this is about saving taxpayers money," said Heidi Welsch, director of family support and assistance for Olmsted County. "This is punitive."

Minnesota joins nine other states, including Kansas, that will test welfare recipients for drugs. Even a cursory look at the states already employing such measures has revealed that results for the programs have been lackluster, and ultimately cost more money than they save while failing to weed out drug abusers that may be enrolled in the welfare system.

FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP, N.J. — An old drug with a new name is presenting new dangers to today's teenagers, New Jersey officials say.

Molly, slang for "molecular," was once was known as Ecstasy, the popular club drug of the late '90s and early 2000s that elevated users to sustained euphoria and hallucination. Miley Cyrus sings about "dancing with Molly" in We Can't Stop. Other artists such as Nicki Minaj, Rick Moss, Rihanna, Snoop Dogg and Kanye West also have made references to Molly in their music.

STORY: Overdoses attributed to Molly increase
STORY: Miley's a fan of Molly, weed

The big problem: Molly has morphed from being a pure form of MDMA — Ecstasy's vital ingredient — to a catch-all name for a methamphetamines mixed with any of roughly 300 other synthetic chemicals, including paint thinner and gasoline, said Dr. M. Michael Jones, chairman of the department of emergency medicine at CentraState Medical Center here.

Unlike heroin, Molly has not claimed many lives in New Jersey. But emergency room visits across the country have surged in recent years.

Molly is perceived as a threat for its severe effects on the body and an apparent popularity with teenagers.

"This is going to change everybody," Douglas S. Collier, drug-initiative coordinator for the state Attorney General's office, told two groups of teenagers at a summit at CentraState. "You're going to be challenged, not only now, but when you go to college, when you go to school, when you go to parties."

Molly's resurgence drew widespread attention over the summer, when two people attending an electronic music festival in New York reportedly died of MDMA overdoses. MDMA's euphoric effects, which last three to six hours, include enhanced sensation, empathy and increased energy, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

But coming down from such a great high can result in dehydration, nausea, chills and sweating.

The institute notes that MDMA can interfere with the body's ability to regulate its temperature and that on "rare but unpredictable occasions" can lead to hypothermia, which can lead to failure of the liver, kidneys and cardiovascular system.


Molly capsules can have way more than MDMA mixed inside, officials say.(Photo: iStock)

But Molly often in more than MDMA. Just about any amphetamine can be combined with another synthetic chemical — caffeine, ephedrine or cocaine, for example — and packaged in a capsule referred to as Molly, Jones said.

"They might think they're ingesting MDMA, but they are not," he said.

That has led to overdose victims suffering body temperatures of more than 100 degrees, brain death and coma, Jones said.

In 2012 one man died related to Molly in New Jersey, according to the New Jersey Poison Information & Education System. The center's director, Steven Marcus, told USA Today that the victim entered the hospital with a temperature of 109 degrees.

Across the United States, Molly-related emergency room visits for people younger than 21 increased 128% between 2005 and 2011, according to Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. Among those, 33% of the admissions involved alcohol.

"When combined with alcohol, it's danger, danger, danger," Collier said. "It's horrible what you'll go through."

Jones cautioned that hospital admission data does not directly translate to the drug's adverse affects. One of the reasons Ecstasy morphed into Molly, he said, was to evade detection in common drug tests.

"Are we up 5, 10%? Maybe," Jones said of the emergency department. "But we are only the bad outcomes."

Law enforcement has seen some activity along the Jersey Shore, but not enough to raise to the alarming levels of opiates, said Charles Webster, spokesman for the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office. He referred to a drug bust in August in which the authorities came away with 4.7 kilograms of Molly but nothing major since.

"We do see it. We do make arrests," Webster said.

Jones said Molly should be regarded with just as much alarm, because in terms of danger, it's "right up there with the rest."

January 7 v24 v 25 TWELVE STEPPING WITH POWER IN THE PROVERB


So listen to me, my sons,
and pay attention to my words.
Don’t let your hearts stray away toward her.
Don’t wander down her wayward path.


STEP 3 : Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as revealed in the Bible.


This morning after reading the Proverb it left me with a tough choice. The Proverb was all about Promiscuity geared towards the woman but in this day and age it should be geared for both men and women. It brings to light a good point and stirs up thoughts of all the toxic relationships I got involved in. Because of fear I was codependent and on top of that I was a rescuer. The problem with that was even though my life was a mess in my twisted thinking I spent ninety percent of my time trying to fix others instead of myself and the last thing they wanted was to be fixed or saved.  Instead of fixing them I helped them and myself remain in addiction. It was a vicious cycle that went round and round! Many years in this state left me empty, depressed, desperate, and hopeless. Only by Gods grace was I able to escape the clutches of my last destructive relationship and truly for once in my life I became alone with myself. Discovering and working the steps with no outside interference gave me the opportunity to develop a relationship with God and myself. I discovered me, and after a tough couple years I can honestly say I love me and I am grateful for the hell I put myself thru. It made me the man I am today! When you get to step three it has to be for you and no one else, you cannot truly love others until you first love yourself.