Embedded Files
by cODY MAGGARD
EDITOR
State Senator Max Wise visited LWC, culminating with a keynote address IN HODGE on the Opioid Epidemic in Kentucky
State Senator Max Wise visited LWC, culminating with a keynote address IN HODGE on the Opioid Epidemic in Kentucky
Senator Wise represents Kentucky’s 16th district in the State Senate, which includes Adair County. A former FBI Agent, and now an instructor at the famed Patterson School of Diplomacy at the University of Kentucky, Senator Wise visited the Homeland Security course on his first stop at LWC.
When speaking to the class, Senator Wise discussed his background in the FBI and the process of finally seeing his ambitions payoff. “It’s hard to do, it’s like getting in the NFL,” said Senator Wise, “they interview your neighbors, your ex-girlfriends, they check your high school records.”
Senator Wise says he felt it was important to speak to the Homeland Security class, because he can relate with those students taking the same courses. “A lot of those students in that class want to go into a path or career that I was in, and I think it’s important to be someone who was in that field to talk about the challenges and the process,” said Senator Wise.
Once he was with the FBI, Senator Wise proclaimed how “September 11 changed everything.” No longer was the FBI a shadow of J. Edgar Hoover, the infamous former Director, but it was forced to become a top tier law enforcement agency, charged with keeping America safe from another attack on its own soil. It had to modernize itself overnight.
State Senator Max Wise speaks to the Homeland Security class in Durham 1. Photo: Adrianna Thrasher
“You had all these Hoover-era Agents who refused to type anything,” said Senator Wise. “Everything was scrambled after 9/11,” he continued. The FBI was now counter-terrorism driven, becoming a major government institution that had to balance its various duties.
For Senator Wise, the counter-terrorism focus of the FBI meant he was placed within a division of biochemistry warfare, under the weapons of mass destruction umbrella, to combat terrorism that included the building and use of such weapons.
“I had six months of CIA training… it’s not like Jack Bauer, though, that stuff is all fake,” said Senator Wise with a chuckle. After his training and time at Quantico, he was eventually fortunate enough to be placed in Lexington, back home in the Bluegrass. After six years with the FBI, Senator Wise was forced to make a family decision to move on, and the next step became running for office.
Senator Wise spoke to students from various classes in Hodge. Photo: Adrianna Thrasher
Senator Wise continued his visit to LWC by speaking with the Constitutional Law students, before lunch with President Luckey and Dr. Patricia Parrish, but as a final stop, he gave a town-hall style keynote to students in Hodge.
The discussion and presentation was focused on the Opioid Crisis that has infiltrated various parts of the Ohio Valley, including central and eastern Kentucky. During the address, Senator Wise spoke about the efforts being made at the state government level, providing time for student driven question and answers at the end.
“This is something that is going to get worse before it gets better,” said Senator Wise. With overdose deaths up over 7% from 2015-2016 alone, Senator Wise says this issue has to be focused as a “public health issue.” He continued by pressing, “we cannot incarcerate ourselves out of this.” In a nation where the “War on Drugs” was enacted with strong force in the 1980s, the emotional side of the issue is often lost. The effects on people and families can sometimes be overlooked in the pursuit of total annihilation.
For Kentucky, this new epidemic follows another. In the 1980s and 1990s, the state was plagued with its ties of being a “pill mill.” That issue has manifested into the Opioid Crisis seen today. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, even into the 2000s, it was easier for patients to “doctor shop” in an effort to obtain prescription pain pills from various outlets, which ultimately would lead to addiction and overdose.
Senator Wise sat down for an interview with RaiderView between classes. Photo: Adrianna Thrasher
The implementation of the KASPER (Kentucky All Schedule Prescription Electronic Reporting) System has aided in the state efforts to combat the crisis. This system is a drug tracking system that doctors must use when prescribing pain medication. According to Senator Wise, the KASPER implementation is just a single aspect of the state involvement to end the crisis.
However, for Senator Wise, the Opioid Crisis is not just a constituent issue, it’s personal.
“We were about to board a plane for our fall break trip, before my wife got a phone call,” said Senator Wise. “Her brother had overdosed.” Senator Wise is all too familiar with the same thing so many Kentucky families experience as part of the Opioid Crisis.
“Recovery is possible, and we need to decrease the stigma associated with treatment,” said Senator Wise. He also encouraged peer support for addicts and those recovering, in an effort to prevent relapse or to obtain help.
The origins of the current crisis lay in Detroit, says Senator Wise. “These drugs come from Detroit, through Cincinnati, into eastern Kentucky and then south central Kentucky,” said Senator Wise. “There is not one simple answer, this is a complex problem.” Those in the 25-44 age demographic are most likely to be suffering from addiction to opioids and prescription medication.
While the median age of those affected is relatively young, Senator Wise believes employment can help to aid in fighting the issue. “There’s 41% of able-bodied Kentuckians that are refusing to go to work,” said Senator Wise. “We have to change that culture, and we also have to train up that next generation to fill those voids and not just say ‘I’m not going to work.’”
Early education is key to defeating the epidemic, says Senator Wise. “All the state agencies need to be in coordination, and we have to start educating early, because once these kids get into high school or even middle school, it will be too late.”
Ultimately, Senator Wise stressed that the opioid epidemic “will get worse before it gets better.”
Senator Wise spent his time in Hodge speaking about the response to the Opioid Crisis at the state level. Photo: Adrianna Thrasher
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