Opioid Coordinator To Discuss Efforts To Fight Addiction

JOHNS CREEK, GA — Fulton County Opioid Coordinator Lynnette Allen will discuss the crisis this group of drugs has created in the area during an event on Thursday in Johns Creek.

Allen, along with the Fulton County Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities and the North Fulton Mental Health Collaborative, will host Addressing the Opioid Crisis in Our Community at 9 a.m. Sept. 27 at Mount Pisgah United Methodist Church in Johns Creek.

Allen will outline the county's activities in fighting the opioid crisis. Through her role as the primary point of contact between Fulton County and community organizations such as the courts, and state and federal officials, Allen will discuss coordination of all opioid related activities, including prevention and treatment, as well as future strategic planning efforts to address the epidemic within the county.

Allen is a long-time behavioral health professional who has more than 25 years of experience in the public and behavioral health fields. She has served with Fulton County since 2006, most recently as a program evaluation specialist with the Department of Behavioral Health & Developmental Disabilities. She holds a bachelor's degree in Community Health Education from the University of South Carolina.

(For more news like this, find your local Patch here. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app; download the free Patch Android app here)

Fulton County has taken an aggressive stance in the fight against opioid addiction and overdoses. In 2017, Fulton County became the first Georgia county to join litigation against drug manufacturers for their role in the opioid crisis.

The county has made prevention an area of focus and adopted an opioid abuse and misuse prevention plan in 2017, which includes rolling out robust awareness campaigns, establishing a network of drug drop boxes throughout the county and launching a text crisis line for teens. Since 2016, County Commissioners have also funded the purchase of naloxone for first responders throughout Fulton County. The antidote temporarily reverses the effects from an opioid overdose.

Mount Pisgah United Methodist Church is located at 2850 Old Alabama Road in Johns Creek.

Image via Shutterstock