Independent Perspective 1670 with Alan Tomaski about the State Opioid Response Program

Host:  Welcome to Independent Perspective, a public affairs presentation of Western New York Independent Living (WNYIL). Our guest today is Alan Tomaski, Rural Recovery Advocate with WNYIL and your host is yours truly Ernie Churchwell. Welcome to the program, Alan.

Guest: Thank you Ernie, thanks for having me. How you doing today?

Host:  Not bad at all. You're a wealth of information I've discovered about how the opioid problem has come to be in its current state and thus are important to the Statewide Opioid Response Program or SOR and wondering if you could give us a brief introduction to how things got the way they are at present?

Guest:  Sure, well it's been over a 20 year little period right? There's been some well intended laws that kind of went sideways that made it. There was a real time synchronize application to make sure that individuals could what they call doctor shop right, so made individuals only able to get one script at a time. But what this did this dried up the street supply of the medications which made individuals then lead to using other street drugs which exasperated the overdose problem. And then with the pandemic and whatnot, it has slowly just increased.

Host:  Alright. And something that has been a key factor in the actual deaths from opioid dependence is the fact that it's a street drug. You don't know how and who has mixed it. And people have been adding cheaper fentanyl in there which is more addictive and more deadly than heroin. What can you say about that?

Guest:  You are absolutely correct, you hit the nail on the head. You only need, it's 100 times stronger especially this Chinese fentanyl, you don't know the strength, you don't know who's mixing it. And one bad batch especially if your tolerance is low can kill you, will be lethal.

Host:  And of course that's why the SOR program exists so that you as Rural Recovery Advocate can help people, socially distanced in their home, I guess you do most of your work by phone?

Guest: Correct, as of right now, but we are trying to get back to in person meetings. It's so important that individuals that were secluded during this time of COVID and couldn't get out that they have an opportunity to go out and start socializing. In a safe supportive environment. We're starting to do that. We are offering groups every Tuesday at noon at Sparks of Hope in the village of Hamburg and these can be in person, they are in person meetings but we hope to have the technology to do them hybrid or they can also be integrated to Zoom too.  

Host: Well that’s the ideal solution then. So if people feel capable of going in person they can or they can socially distance by virtual meeting. What would you say that the bulk of your assistance is done and how do you help people?

Guest:  Well, right now it is a brand new program, brand new funding so right now the important thing is to get the word out to individuals in the rural area that we are there to help. We do offer one to one peer support and we are here to link services. So if you are in a rural area, just because you’re not in the city of Buffalo, we can still connect you to services if you need treatment, if you need one on one care, if you need we can help you get Suboxone, you know without a one week supply while you're waiting for a doctor to prescribe it so there are a lot of good things that we can do for individuals in the rural community.

Host:  And you mentioned outside Buffalo you also serve Niagara as well as Erie County do you not?

Guest:  Yes, that is correct. We are we have peers in Niagara County and we have peers in I guess if you want to say southern Erie County going into kind of like the Chautauqua area and all that. Any who are outside the city of Buffalo anything outside the city of Buffalo is considered rural for purposes of the SOR program. So yes, we will be in Niagara County and Erie County.

Host:  Alright. And I guess you have colleagues as far as some of the other Western New York Independent Living sister agencies in the Batavia area also?

Guest:  Absolutely. So anywhere you are in this area and even if anyone is anywhere really in this country really you can be linked to our services. If you call we have online smart meetings, we do right now you can get through an invite. They are Tuesday and Friday 3:30 to 5:00.

Host:  Alright, we're totally out of time. How can people contact you to get more information?

Guest:  Sure they can just reach out to WNYIL and ask to be connected to somebody in the Mental Health PEER Connection or to anybody in Addict 2 Addict or Family 2 Family services.

Host:  And that would be 716-836-0822.

Guest:  Correct, sir.

Host:  Thanks so much for being with us, Alan.

Guest:  Thank you for having me Ernie, I appreciate it.

Host:  You've been listening to Independent Perspective, a public affairs program of WNYIL. Our guest today was Alan Tomaski, Rural Recovery Advocate with WNYIL and your host is yours truly Ernie Churchwell.