NE MN Opioid Abuse Response Strategies (OARS) Work Group
OARS Mission: “Creating community-based solutions for victims of substance use disorders.”
OARS Vision: We believe that the effects of drug addiction destroy the very fabric of our community and
jeopardize the health and safety of future generations in all counties comprising the Northeast Minnesota
communities. Therefore we feel the best way to address the problem of drug addiction in our communities is
by taking a united and informed approach that requires a collaborative, coordinated, integrated, multiinstitutional, and measurable approach that emphasizes the following values of shared community decisionmaking followed by the shared responsibility of all citizens, institutions, and county governance for the
mental, physical, and spiritual health of all individuals in our communities.
Background: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a press release on February 20th 2013
reporting that over 38,000 people died from drug overdose in the United States in 2010. More than half of all
overdose deaths involved pharmaceutical drugs. Opioid analgesics including oxycodone, hydrocodone and
methadone were associated in 3 out of 4 of these deaths. In Minnesota, overdose deaths from opioids
increased from 42 deaths in 2000 to 191 in 2010. Prescriptions for opioid analgesics increased 72% in
Minnesota during the period of 2005 through 2011. (Mettner J. Minnesota Medicine, March 2013)
In the 2012 Annual Report from the St. Louis County Attorney’s office, overdoses and deaths had dramatically
increased in the past year related to heroin exposure. Related to these trends, adult felony referrals are up an
overall 17%. In 2011, Drugs/DWI’s (22%) and property crimes (17%) represent the majority of crime types
at the county level and are thought to be opioid related. The report suggests that addressing these trends
requires “continuing collaboration and education between our office, the medical community, and law
enforcement.”
On November 9th 2012, the Minnesota State Substance Abuse Strategy was introduced by the Commissioner
of the Department of Human Services (DHS) and a panel of community leaders and law enforcement at the
Duluth Public Safety Building. As a result of this strategy meeting, in January 2013, the Director of Adult
Services for Public Health and Human Services, a psychiatric pharmacist from University of Minnesota (UMN),
College of Pharmacy, a physician and toxicology specialist, and the Chief Operations Executive (CEO) Director
of the Center for Alcohol and Drug Therapy (CADT) held the initial meeting of what would be later known as
the Northeast Minnesota Opioid Abuse Response and Strategies (OARS) workgroup. As of May of 2014, OARS
membership includes two physicians, CEO of CADT, St. Louis County Public Health & Human Service
Department administrators, social workers, addiction specialists, tribal officials, UMN psychiatric pharmacist,
tribal pharmacist, law enforcement, judicial branch (Drug court), dentists, housing specialists, nurses, medical
health plan liaison, and lay community representatives (Resources Against Drugs –R.A.D), and the Chief
Public Defender. Other attendees have included the DHS Commissioner, Deputy Commissioner, and the DHS
Director of the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Division.
Scope: Meeting topics discussed include the need for integrated care approaches to substance abuse
treatment, referral strategies, detoxification, recovery, methadone programs, buprenorphine (Suboxone)
programs, naloxone rescue, prescription drug monitoring, and expanding coverage for health care services.
Efforts to mobilize prevention initiatives have also been undertaken by the work group.
Version 1.1 updated on July 2, 2014