Greenwood County Council approves opioid action plan amid double-digit drug overdose deaths

GREENWOOD, SC (WSPA) – The Greenwood County Council on Tuesday approved a community action plan to stop the growing opioid epidemic that is ravaging communities across the country.

According to Jessica Jacobs, director of behavioral health at Carolina Health Center, the plan is based on three main pillars.

“The first goal is to reduce overdose deaths. The second goal is to improve access to services for Greenwood County residents, and the third goal is to increase harm reduction efforts,” Jacobs said.

This comes at a time when about one in three Americans say they know someone who has died from a drug overdose.

“The number of deaths is alarmingly high and the overdose rates in Greenwood County overall are quite high,” Jacobs said.

In Greenwood County alone, a total of 77 people died of drug overdoses in 2021 and 2022.

Greenwood County told 7NEWS: “The majority of our population is affected by addiction in some way. The Community Action Plan is an important step in addressing this crisis and hopefully healing our community.”

In addition to trying to reduce drug overdoses, the plan calls for the creation of a new position for a county employee, the opioid coordinator. Jacobs said the role will be a central source of information for those seeking help for drug overdoses.

“This is a role that allows for immediate triage,” Jacobs said. “You call, ask your questions and get access to medical care.”

Russell Prince-Webb, a registered nurse at Carolina Health Centers in Greenwood, said he supports the plan because he believes people addicted to drugs need help but may be too embarrassed to seek it.

“It’s very disheartening to see someone who thinks this is their lifestyle, this is their life,” Prince-Webb said. “They just feel humiliated, they feel ashamed, because every time we have to take their blood, they say, ‘I have all these scars,’ and I say, ‘We all have a story.’ Not everyone’s story is visible, but they shouldn’t be treated any differently than you and I.”

The plan will be funded with money from the South Carolina Opioid Recovery Fund. Jacobs said a job description for the county’s new opioid coordinator is currently being written.