More checks of prescription database, reviews of deaths, medical treatment of addiction and expanded police use of overdose drug proposed.

Building on Delaware’s efforts in recent years to combat prescription painkiller and heroin abuse, a plan released Thursday recommends that regulations governing prescription dispensing become more stringent, that deaths from opiates and heroin be reviewed to learn how they could have been prevented, that medical treatment of addiction be expanded and that more police be equipped with a drug that can counteract the effects on an overdose in an emergency, Attorney General Matt Denn was joined by Secretary of Health and Social Rita Landgraf, New Castle County Police Chief Col. Elmer Setting, Delaware Fraternal Order of Police president Fred Calhoun and atTAcK Addiction board members David Humes, Don Keister, and Rebecca King, to release the plan and begin discussions with those involved in the fight against opiate and heroin abuse.

“We are here today because, notwithstanding some extraordinary effort and hard work by many people in our state, far too many Delawareans are dying from prescription drug and heroin overdoses,” said Attorney General Denn. “The catalysts behind many of the state’s efforts in the last several years to deal with substance use disorder have been the family members of Delawareans who suffered from drug overdoses – some of whom did not survive. We owe it to them, and other families who have lost loved ones, to redouble our efforts.”

“When doctors prescribe opiates as pain medication, it is like giving patients a loaded gun that must be handled properly so that death by the disease of addiction does not occur,” Don Keister said, noting a need for doctors to limit the number of prescribed pills and also inquire into a patient’s family history and situation for signs of potential misuse.

“Sadly we are fighting a disease of epidemic proportion, and this disease is destroying, and is taking lives,” Secretary Landgraf said in talking about recovery options. “We know that treatment works and that recovery is possible.”

The plan addresses in four areas that should positively impact the prevalence of prescription opioid and heroin abuse:

• Strengthening the regulations that govern the amount of care that health care providers must exercise in prescribing opiate drugs. The state Controlled Substance Advisory Committee has drafted regulations to govern prescription by doctors and the plan includes ideas – already submitted in comment form – to make those regulations even strong before they are finalized.

• Conducting routine state reviews of deaths caused by prescription opiate and/or heroin overdoses to determine what could have been done differently, similar to reviews currently done in child death cases. Such a process would need to be created by the action of the legislature in 2016.

• Maximizing the responsible use of medically assisted treatment of substance abuse disorder. A group of medical professionals and advocates would convene to discuss best practices in the use of medications like Suboxone, methadone and naltrexone, which some doctors have advocated for wider use of to treat addiction.

• Encouraging our state’s law enforcement community to expand the number of officers who carry naxolene, a drug that is effective in reversing the effect of heroin overdoses. This drug has been successfully employed in nine cases by New Castle County Police (7), Middletown Police (1) and Ocean View (1) police to avert a potentially fatal overdose.

“The folks that are addicted to heroin aren’t necessarily criminals, they are certainly victims,” Col. Setting said. “These people need help and I am so glad that I am not the only person saying it any longer. This is not just a police problem.”

Speaking about police support for equipping officers with addiction-countering medication, FOP president Calhoun said “None of my officers want to be standing in the doorway when a family member or child walks up from the sidewalk, looking into their eyes, knowing that the next thing you’re going to tell them will impact them for the rest of their lives.”

Deaths from prescription opioid abuse and from illegal heroin remain as problems in Delaware. The Prescription Drug Monitoring Program, begun in 2012, is a significant advancement that should become more effective over time with improved utilization. Using various statistical measures from 2009 and 2010, the Prescription Drug Advisory Committee found in 2013 that Delaware had the nation’s ninth highest drug overdose rate, had a significantly higher percentage of its residents engaging in non-medical use of prescription opioids than the national average, and had the nation’s fifth highest overall rate for opioid sales. Regarding illegal heroin use, the number of deaths in Delaware from heroin overdoses increased from 8 deaths in 2009 to 23 in 2013.

WILMINGTON, DE – Members of a heroin distribution organization, involving inmates in the Baylor Women’s Correctional Institution and members in the Swanwyck and Collins Park areas of New Castle, received sentences for charges including drug trafficking, racketeering, and conspiracy

The leader of the crime ring, Irene Hollis, 35, of New Castle pled guilty to Tier 5 drug dealing, racketeering, and conspiracy to commit racketeering, and was sentenced by Superior Court Judge Mary Miller Johnston to 25 years in prison.

While in prison on drug charges in 2012, Hollis made several phone calls to other members of her organization to discuss their drug dealing. She also made arrangements to smuggle oxycodone and heroin into the prison. The calls were detected by the Department of Correction’s Office of Internal Affairs.

Hollis was arrested again in June 2014 on drug and conspiracy charges.

The case was prosecuted for the Department of Justice, by Deputy Attorneys General Joseph Grubb, Kate Keller, David Holloway and Barzilai Axelrod.

The Chief Investigating Officer was Detective Peter Stewart of the New Castle County Police Department. The Department of Justice, Probation and Parole, Delaware State Police, Department of Correction, and the Delaware Army National Guard assisted the New Castle County Police Department in the execution of search warrants at various residences and multiple jail cells in the Howard Young Correctional Institute and Baylor Women’s Correctional Institution.

In addition to Hollis, the other defendants sentenced today were:

Aaron Hollis (Irene Hollis’s brother), 29, of New Castle, to 10 years at Level 5
Christopher Shweda, 35, of New Castle, was declared a Habitual Offender on Drug Dealing and sentenced to 6 years Level 5
Robert Garrett, 29, of New Castle, to 2 ½ years at Level 5
Arturo Guerrero, 22, of New Castle, to 18 months at Level 5
Sara Breeding, 34, of Greenwood, to 15 months at Level 5
Shannon Macey, 25, of New Castle, to 1 year at Level 3 probation.

Two additional defendants, Mallory Read, 28, of New Castle, and Chris Dougherty, 31, of New Castle, will be sentenced at a later date. Defendant Angel Ortiz, 30, of New Castle, previously pled guilty to racketeering, and is already serving a two year prison sentence.

New Castle, DE – Joined by elected officials, law enforcement officers, first responders, non-profit leaders, and families who have lost loved ones to drug overdoses, Governor Markell today signed legislation authorizing law enforcement officers to carry Naloxone, a prescription drug that counteracts the effects of opioid-related overdoses.

House Bill 388, sponsored by Rep. Mike Barbieri (D – Newark) and Sens. Bethany Hall-Long (D – Middletown) and Karen Peterson (D – Stanton), allows peace officers who have completed a Delaware Health and Social Services approved training course to receive, carry, and administer the drug Naloxone, and provides immunity to officers who administer the drug in good faith.  Under HB 388, a “peace officer” is any public officer authorized to make arrests in criminal cases.

“By equipping law enforcement officers with an important tool to prevent deadly overdoses, we can help reduce the toll that heroin and other dangerous opiates are taking on our state,” said Governor Markell. “This simple piece of legislation has the potential to save lives.”

At today’s event, held at the New Castle County Public Safety Building, Rep. Barbieri thanked Governor Markell for his focus on addiction and for making changes in the treatment system.

“We need to keep individuals who are suffering from addiction alive so they can enter recovery,” said Rep. Barbieri, adding that the wider access to naloxone also helps “to protect the public generally.”

During the last week of the Legislative Session, Governor Markell signed a companion bill to this legislation. Senate Bill 219 allows family, friends and members of the community to buy naloxone after they have been trained by the Department of Health and Social Services.

“This builds on our efforts to make this life-saving drug available to friends and family members of people who are addicted to this destructive drug,” said Sen. Hall-Long, who also sponsored SB 219. “By expanding access and training we can save even more lives.”

The new laws reinforce previous efforts to combat prescription drug abuse, which kills more Delawareans every year than traffic accidents.

“As we know, Delaware is battling a serious heroin problem and putting this drug in the hands of properly trained police will save lives,” said Sen. Peterson. “I hope that people saved by Naloxone will recognize their good fortune and take the steps needed to put their lives on a new path.”

Photos from the event