The Ville Platte Rotary Club today (Tuesday) heard from Rotarian Dr. Phillipe Vidrine. His topic was the growing opioid epidemic in our country.

   According to the Centers for Disease Control, the opium poppy has been around since 34 BC. The ingredients from the poppy have been used in legal drugs and illegal drugs. Opioid deaths have tripled in the fifteen period from 1999 to 2014. In 2016, one in five deaths for those ages 24-45 during the child rearing ages were caused by drug overdose.

   The worst area in the country  for drug overdoses are states in the Rust Belt. Louisiana is ranked #12 in the states with the highest number of opioid related deaths.

   In 2012, in Louisiana for every 100 residents in the state, 118 prescriptions were written.

   Addition to pain killers and opioids lead to drug abuse and overdoses.

   Medical professionals like Dr. Vidrine are now required to take continuing education to prescribe non narcotics.

    In closing, Dr. Vidrine said Addition is a treatable disease.

    In other news, outgoing Club President Wayne Vidrine said “It was a great year for Rotary. We got a lot of things done.” He said incoming club president Richard LeJeune plans to continue supporting moves to improve Chicot State Park and reestablish a rotary scholarship at the Coreil Campus.