Mississippi Today
State Health Department amps up free naloxone distribution
Schools, community organizations and hospitality groups now have access to free bulk naloxone, an opioid overdose reversal drug, thanks to recent state legislation and federal funding.
In the first two months since the new law went into effect, the Mississippi Department of Health has distributed 3,470 boxes of bulk naloxone. That’s more than it distributed in the prior 10 months combined.
The Legislature passed House Bill 1137, authored by Rep. Fabian Nelson, D-Jackson, and a freshman legislator, in the spring. Nelson said the impetus for the bill, which expands what types of groups can receive the overdose reversal drug, was a conversation with a local advocate who showed him the need for more access across the state.
Nelson worked closely with Department of Mental Health Executive Director Wendy Bailey to draft the legislation.
The Department of Mental Health also distributes naloxone through a program called Stand Up Mississippi. The focus of that program has been on law enforcement and first responders, Bailey said.
โThere was a core group that was missing there โ nonprofits, recovery support groups that really needed to have access to more than just one dose,โ said Bailey.
Nelson teamed up with House Public Health and Human Services Chair Sam Creekmore, R-New Albany, and Senate Judiciary A Chairman Brice Wiggins, R-Pascagoula, to shepherd the legislation โ which allows community organizations, educational groups and any other โhigh-risk opioid overdose touchpointโ to receive the drug โ through the process. The bill passed both the House and Senate unanimously.
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โIf we can save one person, we’ve done our job,โ said Nelson.
As the father of teenagers, Nelson said he believes schools in particular need access to the drug.
โI’m telling my district, and Hinds County School District, we need this in the school. Because what’s happening is kids are bringing edibles to school and some are laced with fentanyl,โ he said. โIf a child overdoses at school and there’s no Narcan, by the time EMT gets there, the child could’ve passed away.โ
READ MORE: Millions in opioid settlement dollars are coming to Mississippi. Here’s what you need to know.
He said he also keeps Narcan at his home.
โI have three sons โ three teenagers โ I know what my kids are doing, I don’t think my kids are doing drugs, but I have Narcan at home because you never know what they may get from a friend.โ
Hundreds of Mississippians die every year from opioid overdoses, and the epidemic has claimed the lives of tens of thousands more nationwide.
Ocean Springs School District placed an order for naloxone thanks to the new state law.
Jessie Galloway, the chief of the district’s campus police, said after an incident involving a near overdose at a neighboring school district, he thought it was important the district be prepared in case something similar occurred.
โDue to the amount of vapes, drugs, and drug paraphernalia becoming increasingly available to the youth, we felt we should be proactive and prepared in the event of an accidental overdose of a student or other individual,” he said in a statement to Mississippi Today. “In addition to our campus duties, we come in contact with many outside individuals attending various school events and having a medication like naloxone on-hand can make the difference in saving a life โฆโ
The Gulf Coast is the hardest hit region of Mississippi in the opioid crisis and represents an outsize portion of Mississippi’s suspected overdose deaths, emergency medical services naloxone administrations and drug-related arrests.
To request naloxone kits for an individual or organization, visit the Department of Health’s site here.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Crooked Letter Sports Podcast
Podcast: Golf week in Mississippi. (Hopefully not the last).
The Sanderson Farms Championship returns to Country Club of Jackson, and Randy Watkins, who played in the tournament and later was the executive director, returns to the Crooked Letter Podcast. We also discuss Ole Miss‘s first loss and perhaps Mississippi State‘s best showing of the football season.
Stream all episodes here.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
On this day in 1965
Oct. 2, 1965
Hundreds of Black protesters, including teenagers, marched for their rights in Natchez, Mississippi, in the wake of the attempted assassination of local NAACP leader George Metcalfe.
โThey were warned if they marched in the city streets of Natchez they would be arrested,โ said former Natchez Mayor Darryl Grennell. โThey marched anyway.โ
Law enforcement arrested them and other protesters, sending 250 of them to the state prison at Parchman because there was no room left in local jails.
Ronald Coleman, who was 17, told The Natchez Democrat that he marched that day with his mother and younger sister. He recalled being housed next to Death Row inmates and enduring abuse from guards, who forced him to strip and drink a laxative. Afterward, he had to share a cell with up to 10 other people with only one commode and one sink. Others arrested endured similar abuse and mistreatment.
โIt was very hard, it was gruesome,โ recalled Deloris Bassett, an 11th grade student at the time. โIt was so cold we had to take our clothes off, just about. We had no cover in the beds, just tin. A lot of the girls had to sleep on the floor โฆ the food was not edible at all, it was horrific.โ
In 2019, city officials unveiled a monument honoring all 468 protesters by name. The book, โThe Parchman Ordeal: 1965 Natchez Civil Rights Injustice,โ details these arrests.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Mississippi Today
Stateโs forensic beds to double in 2025
A new facility for Mississippians with mental illness who are involved in the criminal justice system will open early next year.
The 83-bed maximum-security building at Mississippi State Hospital in Whitfield should open in January, Department of Mental Health Executive Director Wendy Bailey told Mississippi Today.
Once staffed, the new building will bring the state’s forensic bed count to 123, up from 65 current beds.
Officials are hopeful the new building will cut down on wait times for mental health treatment for people in prison. Mississippi has the second-longest wait time for such treatment in the country, according to a study by the nonprofit Treatment Advocacy Center.
โWe are proud to be able to offer this service to Mississipians and to offer this environment to the people that we’re serving and to our staff as well,โ she said.
Forensic services are for people with criminal charges who need mental health treatment before facing trial and people who have been deemed not guilty by reason of insanity.
Agency spokesperson Adam Moore said at the end of August, 68 people were waiting for inpatient evaluation or competency restoration services, he said. Fifty-five of those people were awaiting services from jail.
The Department of Mental Health plans to permanently close 25 maximum security forensic beds in a 70-year-old facility.
The current maximum security unit has notable deficiencies, including โrampantโ plumbing issues, blind corners, no centralized fire suppression system and padlocks on the door, said Dr. Tom Recore, medical director at the Department of Mental Health. It also requires high numbers of personnel to staff.ย
The building’s closure has been long awaited.
โWe could have used a new forensic unit 20 years ago,โ Bailey said.
In comparison, the new building will be a safe, โtherapeuticโ environment, she said.
โIf you create a space that folks feel is something worth taking care of, then patients, staff and everyone alike ends up behaving in ways that end up being more prosocial,โ Recore said.
Construction on the new building should be completed in November, said Bailey. The Department of Mental Health will begin a โheavy recruiting effortโ to staff the unit this fall.
The Legislature awarded $4 million for six months’ staffing of the new building, given the facility’s mid-fiscal year opening.
Plans for the new 83-bed building have been in the works for years now, said Bailey.
In 2016, the department’s forensic services unit was composed of just 35 maximum security beds, she said.ย
The Department of Mental Health first put out a bid for preplanning of renovation or replacement of the building in 2018, but the project stalled during the COVID-19 pandemic. The agency was forced to reissue a call for bids, with bids coming back โsignificantly higherโ than before, Bailey said.ย
Construction costs for the building totalled $36.5 million. The state legislature allocated funding for the project in 2018, 2023 and 2024.
The new facility is a crucial part of building out a โcontinuum of careโ within the state’s forensic system, said Recore.
The maximum security facility will provide an entry point for people receiving forensic services, but placement in a medium-security unit, group homes and work programs will be options for patients based on a clinical review team’s evaluation.
The group homes at Central Mississippi Residential Center in Newton have not been staffed yet, but are the next step to creating a more robust continuum of services, said Recore.
Twenty-four beds will eventually be staffed at Central Mississippi Residential Center, and Recore envisions an outpatient supervision system as the next horizon.
โAnd then, you have an actually functioning forensic system in a state that hasn’t had one before,โ he said.
This article first appeared on Mississippi Today and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
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