Today, Bryan Prevention and Recovery, a collaborative organization representing the Bryan County community, launched its new impact report. This resource highlights the issues Bryan County faces as residents remain at risk for substance abuse of all types. The new impact report summarizes the history of the organization and an overview of its drug-prevention efforts over the last four years. Analyzing data and trends demonstrate the ongoing challenges around opioid abuse and other substances in Bryan County.

When Bryan County Opioid Prevention Project started in September 2017, focusing on opioid misuse prevention strategies, the opioid epidemic was the hot topic with lots of funding flowing into states from the federal government to help communities address issues at the local level. Since March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has taken center stage in relation to funding and data collection while many communities are seeing increased rates of opioid misuse, overdose and deaths. A recent New York Times article by German Lopez stated that  “…over the past two years, it has worsened: Annual overdose deaths spiked 50 percent as fentanyl spread in illegal markets, more people turned to drugs during the pandemic, and treatment facilities and other services shut down.”

After losing the original funding from the Georgia Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities (DBHDD), the collaborative changed its name to Bryan Prevention and Recovery since the data continued to show not only problematic use of opioids within Bryan County, but also other drug use (like alcohol, marijuana, and tobacco) especially among young people. In addition, recovery support services in the area barely exist and most people are required to go outside of the county to get treatment, including residential or out-patient options. 

The impact report was created to get a snapshot of what has happened to date, gauge progress, and identify the best next steps for the collaborative and community to prevent misuse and abuse of drugs while supporting those in recovery. Some of the recommendations in the report include providing more intensive drug prevention curriculum to seventh- and eighth-graders; continuing community awareness programs regarding the dangers of drug abuse; educating parents and grandparents on how to talk to youth about drugs and protect their children; helping to reduce the rate of overdose through programs like ODMAP, Safe Stations, and Naloxone distribution; supporting law enforcement in implementing compliance checks with all alcohol and tobacco outlets; and increasing recovery support activities in the community. The full report is available at www.bryanprevention.com. 

“It is important that we don’t forget about the impact that drug abuse – including opioid misuse – has on our community. There is still a lot of work to be done to protect our youth and support our community against the negative impact of drug abuse,” Bryan Prevention and Recovery Program director Mary Fuller said.

Bryan Prevention and Recovery is a collaborative of community partners that supports drug-abuse prevention and recovery support strategies throughout Bryan County.

For more information about what Bryan Prevention and Recovery does in the Bryan County community, please visit www.bryanprevention.com, and follow the collaboration on Facebook.