Curbing Opioid Use In Canton Aim Of Families Against Narcotics

CANTON, MI — America is in the midst of an opioid epidemic, according to the Federal Department of Health and Human Services. On an average day, 78 people die from an opioid-related overdose in the United States, 3,900 people start using opioids for nonmedical reasons and more than 650,000 opioid prescriptions are filled.

While those numbers are staggering, Canton residents now have a place to reach out for help with opioid addiction. On April 10, Families Against Narcotics (FAN) will launch its new Northwest Wayne County Chapter, which will meet monthly in Canton in the LifeChurch annex building located at 6900 N. Haggerty Road.

“The stigma of drugs and overdose is typically thought of as an inner city problem, but the recent opioid drug epidemic spreads across all socio-economic boundaries, including Canton,” said Canton Public Safety Director Joshua Meier.

The Fraser-based non-profit began in 2007 after a rash of heroin overdoses hit the Macomb County community. Now with more than a dozen active chapters across Michigan, FAN is working to educate the public about opioid addiction and help provide resources to combat it.

“For the majority of families affected by addiction, it is unchartered territory,” said Canton Supervisor Pat Williams. “They are thrown into a situation for which they have no concept of how to handle, how to help, or how to survive as a family unit.”

According to the organization’s website, FAN has presented its “Real People Sharing Real Stories” program to thousands of students in over three dozen school districts, spoke at over 50 conferences and traveled to more than 30 communities from Grosse Ile to Petoskey. The program includes presentations from parents affected by addiction, parents who have lost loved ones and young people in recovery.

“I believe FAN will provide a customized network and support system to help families navigate through the turbulence created by addiction, and I encourage our residents in need to take advantage of this new
Northwest Wayne County Chapter,” Williams said.

The kick off meeting will be held on Monday, April 10 at 6:30 p.m. Judge Linda Davis of the 41B District Court is the president/founder of FAN, and will be the keynote speaker at this chapter launch. She also chairs Governor Snyder’s Prescription Drug and Opioid Abuse Commission.

Meier is looking forward to working with FAN. He said his department has already been working on the issue.

“The Canton Police & Fire Departments have been working for the past couple years with Growth Works and local hospitals to establish avenues of assistance for individuals they encounter in the course of their duties,” he said.

Photo by frankieleon via Flickr Commons