Kansans say they are seeing addiction rates in the state rise. People hear about fatal overdoses each month, and some think the reported numbers underestimate the issue.
These opinions are from some of the more than 2,000 surveyed Kansans in a new report from the University of Kansas looking at substance use disorder in the state. The report highlights holes in Kansas’ response, saying Kansans lack access to high-quality treatment options.
In particular, the state doesn’t have widespread access to medical detox programs, which use medication to ease withdrawal symptoms and are considered one of the best addiction treatments.
The report notes that the state also has “higher than previously recognized levels of (substance use disorder) across the life course,” with nearly 1 in 5 adults having substance use disorder.
“If my kids had any other disease,” an anonymous parent said in the report, “there would have been prayer chains and meals brought in and people doing fundraisers for us … But because we had addiction, we were the throwaways.”
The report found that 59.1% of drug overdose deaths happened to people who had an opportunity for prevention, which is lower than in some nearby states. Missouri is at 71.2%.
Lack of access to quality opioid addiction treatment
Kansas lacks enough treatment providers that offer medical detox and medication for opioid use disorder, or MOUD, the report said.
These treatments work exactly as they sound. People trying to kick addiction are given medication to reduce dependence on drugs.
Don’t think of addiction as a craving for substances the same way someone may crave ice cream. Experts say the dependence can make someone physically sick if they don’t get the substance. The medication reduces those feelings.
Some patients are on it for a few months while others may be on it for a few decades.
Tessa Schnelle, director of pharmacy at the Cass Regional Medical Center in Harrisonville, Missouri, said patients should also receive counseling in addition to the medication. Withdrawal symptoms are powerful, she said, and easing those feelings with medication makes MOUD one of the more effective treatment methods.
A 2024 study published in the Sage Journals surveyed nearly 2,000 patients receiving MOUD. The patients were surveyed at the start of the study, then at three months, six months, nine months, one year and 18 months later.
In the beginning, 55% of survey respondents said they hadn’t used opioids in the last 30 days. By the one year and 18-month marks, 77% of respondents said they were 30 days opioid-free.
In the first survey, 7% of patients said they overdosed in the past 90 days. Just 2% reported an overdose in the past 90 days by the three-month mark.
That’s why advocates want to expand access to this treatment.
Why isn’t treatment more accessible?
There’s a variety of reasons MOUD treatment isn’t more available. There are some reimbursement issues, and patients move around a lot, which can make it difficult to continue treatment. And then there’s stigma.
Silke von Esenwein, associate researcher senior at the Center for Public Partnerships and Research at the University of Kansas, said a lot of providers could offer this treatment but just don’t do it. She said some doctors don’t want to work with this patient population.
“They’re reluctant to do that,” she said. “There’s a lot of fear out there.”
Then there are issues with medicine in rural areas: Hospitals are at risk of closing and it’s hard to find providers.
Schnelle said it takes around three medical professionals to successfully offer this treatment. Patients need a doctor who can prescribe the medication, a pharmacist to hand it out and providers who offer therapeutic services.
Telehealth could fill in some gaps, since a patient could access it through any computer in the state. But Schnelle said there aren’t enough providers offering telehealth services, leading to waitlists.
How can treatment expand?
The multifaceted problem needs multifaceted solutions, medical professionals told The Beacon. Addressing stigma takes education, they say, and navigating certain state requirements.
Nurse practitioner Laura Lindsay runs her own medical detox practice based in Mission, Kansas, that offers medication-assisted treatment. She wants to expand into Missouri but needs an additional collaborating physician to do so.
Some states don’t allow one medical professional to run all parts of the program. In Kansas, pharmacists can’t prescribe certain medications in MOUD treatments.
Lindsay says providers don’t always take insurance, which could mean some patients pay hundreds of dollars a month for care. That makes care inaccessible for some people.
Janine Hron, associate director at KU’s Center for Public Partnerships and Research, said improving the state’s response to addiction must mean more access to MOUD treatment programs.
Hron and von Esenwein’s study looked at substance abuse treatment in general. It offered more than 100 recommendations like expanding the Good Samaritan Law to include people on probation, funding for public health communications specialists and working on stigma reduction.
Hron said the system is in precarious shape with changes at the federal level and hospitals struggling to stay open.
“As we went community by community and spoke with thousands of people,” she said, “what became really obvious is that people are concerned and people are ready to help and take action.”
