Submitted photo City of Elkins Mayor Jerry Marco signed a proclamation last week announcing September as Overdose Awareness Month. Taking part in the signing at City Hall were, from left, City of Elkins Executive Secretary Liz Roberts, City of Elkins Police Chief Travis Bennett, Marco, Elkins Addiction and Homelessness Task Force member Markie Jeffries and Fifth Ward City Council member David Parker.

ELKINS — City of Elkins Mayor Jerry Marco signed a proclamation and announced September as Overdose Awareness Month during a ceremony last week at City Hall.

In the proclamation, Marco requests that all area residents, community organizations and government agencies observe the month with activities, programs, and events that will promote awareness, compassion and support for individuals and families affected by substance use disorder.

“The overdose issue is a nationwide problem and we want to focus on keeping everyone safe in our small little area here in the mountains,” said Marco. “Overdose Awareness Month will help us raise awareness about the dangers of drug overdoses. We are very blessed that we have a lot of service providers that focus on this issue here in Elkins. And we have a lot of great first responders who are out there trying to help people.”

Marco said having the Elkins Addiction and Homelessness Task Force in place is vital to combating overdoses in the area. The Task Force is made up of seven individuals who represent different organizations in the area, such as the Department of Health and Human Resources and Davis Health System.

“Our Task Force is well aware of the overdose situation and they’re keeping a close eye on it,” said Marco. “We know when trends are coming through and how to prepare for something coming our way. The mental health experts in the area provide information to us when they can and that’s a big thing, having open lines of communication is very important.”

Marco said the Task Force studies trends not only locally, but from other states so that it can be prepared when something comes to the area.

“We’ve seen a lot of spike alerts lately and the most recent one started in Ohio,” said Marco. “Sometimes a bad batch of something will start somewhere like that and will eventually make its way not only to West Virginia, but to our immediate area. So we track things from afar so that we can keep on top of things and hopefully keep any overdoses from happening.”

The Mayor said in today’s age many overdoses take place after someone takes an illegal substance that has been laced with something else.

“A lot of the times the overdoses happen because something has been mixed in with another drug,” said Marco. “Fentanyl is the biggest problem when it comes to that issue and It’s really becoming more dangerous for our first responders — it can be deadly. We have people who have accidentally come in contact with fentanyl when they were trying to help somebody else. In those cases they become a victim as well.”

The Elkins Addiction and Homelessness Task Force was created by Marco in April 2021. For more information visit the City of Elkins’ website.