BATAVIA, N.Y. -- Addiction is reportedly on the rise. The Genesee-Orleans Council on Alcohol and Substance Abuse, or GCASA, says that drug poisoning deaths outnumbered motor vehicle accidents as a cause of death in the U.S. by 2010, with the number only rising in recent years.
GCASA is located on East Main Street in Batavia, and provides services to people struggling with addiction, including counseling, treatment, and even referrals, but lately, with the rise of opioid addiction, specifically heroin use, they are finding that their conventional methods are not enough.
"Many of the people that come in, especially our IV heroin users, they don't do well on the medication we can offer them, which is suboxone, or naltrexone," said John Bennett, GCASA executive director. "And there's only three medications approved by the FDA, with the other one being Methadone."
When suboxone or naltrexone (also known as Vivitrol) aren't enough, GCASA will refer their patients to clinics that have licenses to use Methadone, which has shown to be effective in curbing an addict's urge to relapse. However, these clinics are few and far between, and often there is a long waiting list for the treatment.
That's why GCASA is moving forward along with Strong Recovery to bring a Methadone clinic to Batavia, and hopes to renovate their East Main Street location to be able to provide on-site treatment.
However, in order to get approval, they have to go through four different licensing bureaus, including two federal agencies. This means that it will be about a year before treatment will become locally available.
But in the meantime, there's still no shortage of people that need help.