Overdose prevention focus of gathering at Utah Capitol

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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah ranks fifth in the nation for overdose deaths.

Many of the loved ones of those who have died because of drug tragedies gathered at the Capitol Monday evening to remember them and to challenge the community and our government to do more to save lives.

People who work with addicts call the current prescription drug abuse epidemic the worst in the nation's history.

Nationally, and in Utah, the numbers back that up, and people are fed up.

More people now die every year from painkiller overdoses than car crashes.

"There's just been too many overdose deaths because there's not enough treatment," said Melinda Geror who had lost friends to overdoses. "There's not enough resources. There's not enough support for the addicts."

On International Overdose Awareness Day, friends and families memorialized lives cut short by prescription drug abuse.

More than 380 Utahns died in 2014 from opioid painkiller overdoses. That number was more than 44,000 across the U.S.

In 2014, Rep. Carol Spackman Moss passed legislation in an effort to reduce overdose deaths.

One law permits doctors to prescribe a rescue opioid called Naloxone to addicts experiencing an overdose. They also passed a "good Samaritan law" that protects bystanders who report an overdose.

"Every person who has become a victim of this epidemic, we need to have compassion and sympathy for those," said Sandra Kresser of the Utah Fed Up! Coalition. "Because nobody would ever choose to be an addict."

Kresser lost her son Josh to an overdose about a decade ago.

Erin Finkbiner, a recovering addict, said, "I don't think I realized how big of a problem it was until I was addicted. And I didn't realize I was addicted."

Finkbiner's addiction to painkillers started with treatment for her back pain. Her son helped her start on her journey toward sobriety.

"Finding out I was pregnant was definitely the motivator," Finkbiner said. "Having the support, the resources available to me to continue to get the treatment that I need — that kept me clean."

Spackman Moss and other legislators are currently working on new bills to help combat the problem. The Fed Up! Coalition said the community needs more evidence-based treatment programs and funding for addicts.