While opioid misuse here is low compared to hot spots on the mainland, Hawaii is not trouble-free. 

Last year, when the opioid crisis killed an estimated 50,000 people across the nation — more than any previous year on record — the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) declared a public health emergency and launched a five-point strategy to combat the crisis.

It includes funding states and communities on the front-lines to: improve access to prevention, treatment and recovery support services; increase availability of overdose-reversing drugs; strengthen public health data reporting and collection; support research on addiction and pain; and advance the practice of pain management.

The recently announced latest round of HHS funding — more than $1 billion in grants — signals stepped-up determination to curb misuse. Hawaii’s Department of Health, which is leading an multi-agency front-lines effort, gets a relatively small slice, $8 million. It’s tagged for prevention programs and treatment and recovery initiatives.

In 2016, Hawaii ranked among the bottom 10 states for misuse. There were 77 opioid-related deaths­­­, or 5.2 deaths per 100,000 people, significantly less the national rate of 13.3 deaths per 100,000.

Even so, DOH officials rightly point out that we should not let down our guard as Hawaii drug overdose deaths account for nearly a quarter of all fatal injuries. Like many other states, in recent years our count of annual drug poisonings has been out-pacing injuries tied to motor vehicle accidents as the leading mechanism of fatal injury.