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WARREN -- Trumbull County commissioners on Wednesday declared a state of emergency in the county because of an opioid crisis that so far this year has killed 39 people, including eight people in the first three days of April.
"That figure from the (Trumbull County) coroner's office is about a week old, so we know there will be a few more," said April Caraway, executive director of the Trumbull County Mental Health and Recovery Board. "If not for naloxone, 189 Trumbull County residents would have died in March."
"Using heroin has become a death sentence," Caraway said.
Naloxone is a drug administered to reverse the effects of an opioid overdose.
To try to combat the problem, Commissioner Daniel E. Polivka said Trumbull County Sheriff Paul Monroe is revamping a countywide task force to help prevent the drugs from entering the county. Monroe could not be reached for comment.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich has committed $20 million to combat addiction in Ohio, Polivka said. However, Commissioner Mauro Cantalamessa said most of the money is going toward research, but not on the immediacy of the problem. Agencies fighting the problem in Trumbull County won't see any, he said.
"We are getting a lot of lip service from the state. We need some action. This is not a partisan issue. This is not a policy issue," Cantalamessa said.
Cantalamessa said Kasich can dip into the state's $2 billion rainy day fund to help out. "This is a life and death emergency," Cantalamessa said.
Attorney David Engler, who has defended many people accused of drug possession in local courts, applauded the commissioners' action.
"No tornado, hurricane or earthquake could cause the destruction that heroin has done to our community," Engler said.
Polivka noted President Donald Trump won Trumbull County in the election and the president "should put his money where his mouth is" to help combat this problem.
Commissioner Frank Fuda said the epidemic of opioid deaths has overloaded the work for county Coroner Dr. Humphrey Germamiuk.
"He needs more help also," Fuda said.
Area drug treatment programs are full, Caraway said, with many on waiting lists, and now treatment personnel are reaching out for help to agencies in western Pennsylvania.
Caraway said local officials are lobbying the governor to dedicate more money to fighting opioid addiction.
"We need more help out here. We are also asking that regulations be lifted so we could serve more people in our facilities," she said.
gvogrin@tribtoday.com