Opioid epidemic hitting home in SC
The opioid epidemic has come knocking on our doors.
It seems that only recently, this epidemic was something you didn’t hear much about, something that was going on in rural areas and big cities far away from the Lowcountry.
In the last year, however, opioid and heroin overdoses claimed the lives of more than 600 South Carolinians. It affects every socio-economic level, at every age, in every neighborhood, and in every region of the state. It has become such a crisis that in December, Gov. Henry McMaster declared a statewide public health emergency and created an Opioid Emergency Response Team. State leaders here and across the country are committed to leading the fight.
Now it is time for the rest of us to get involved.
The Lowcountry Alliance for Healthy Youth (LCAHY) is a community prevention coalition that brings together all sectors of our local community to identify and implement strategies that promote positive youth development by addressing substance use/abuse and related risky behaviors.
LCAHY hosted a public forum to address this crisis on Jan. 29 at Hilton Head Island High School’s Seahawk Cultural Center. Scheduled speakers included state Rep. Shannon Erickson of Beaufort, who is on the Legislative Opioid Prevention Committee, and local high school students sharing information to help our community better understand how we can fight the deadly abuse of opioids.
David Martin
Hilton Head Island
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This story was originally published February 1, 2018 at 4:16 PM with the headline "Opioid epidemic hitting home in SC."