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Opioid summit to be held at Grandville High School

The discussion will look at the national, state and local perspective of the heroin and opioid crisis.

The US Attorney's Office and Grandville Public Schools are hosting a community presentation about the opioid epidemic on Monday, March 19.

The discussion will look at the national, state and local perspective of the heroin and opioid crisis. It is a free event, and it will be at the Grandville High School Auditorium at 7 p.m.

U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge of the Western District of Michigan said there are three ways his office is addressing the epidemic:

  • Prevention: educating the public to discourage the use of these drugs
  • Preservation: furthering information about what can be done to protect those who currently suffer from substance abuse
  • Prosecution: investigating and charging those who spread these substances

“I cannot stress enough how important it is for parents and teenagers to understand this epidemic," said Birge in release. "Teenagers learn and grow by making the occasional poor choice, but they can’t afford to make poor choices with opioids."

Grandville's superintendent, Roger Bearup, said he is honored to help raise awareness about the opioid crisis in West Michigan and across the country.

The U.S. Attorney's Office recently released statistics about the opioid crisis:

  • Drug overdose deaths have outpaced traffic accidents in the United States as the top cause of injury death since 2009.
  • Life expectancy in the United States has dropped for two years in a row after more than 100 years of steady progress.
  • Since 2004, the number of children admitted to hospitals for opioid overdoses has nearly doubled.
  • More people died in 2016 of an overdose than ever before.
  • The CDC identified Michigan and one of the states experiencing a significant increase in its drug overdose death rates through 2016.
  • Emergency visits for opioid overdoses rose 30% across the country from July 2016 through September 2017. During that period, opioid overdoses were up 70% in the Midwest.
  • Preliminary numbers from the Kent County Medical Examiner show that 137 people died in 2017 because of a drug overdose. This is a 50 percent increase over 2016.

A flyer for the opioid summit can be seen here:

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