OXFORD, Mississippi, Oct. 31, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — In honor of Substance Abuse Prevention Awareness Month, the Oxford Treatment Center, a leading provider of concurrent treatment services for mental health and substance use in Mississippi, hosted a live panel discussion with the Senatobia Police Department and a representative from Ole Miss on the drug crisis in our community.

“What we’re seeing is a lot of very, very ill, medically and psychiatric complex people with substance use disorders,” Oxford Treatment Center CEO Mark Stovall said during the panel. “It’s the worst thing I’ve ever seen. I’ve been doing this for 20 years and I’ve never seen some of the things I’ve seen lately.”

The discussion can be viewed at Oxford Treatment Center Facebook page.

Mark Stovall and Dr. Lucas Trautman, CEO and Medical Director of the Oxford Treatment Center, were welcomed by Sgt. Blake Warren, a drug crimes investigator with the Senatobia Police Department, and Kyle Loggins, a board-certified drug prevention specialist with the William Magee Center in Ole Miss, discuss the state of drug use in Mississippi, the new substances entering communities, and the dangers which they bring with them to discuss pose for all Mississippi. The panelists provided a front-line look at the drug overdose crisis and the discussed devastating impact it is currently having in Mississippi. For example, overdose deaths from fentanyl increased 125% from 2019 to 2020

“I’ve been a law enforcement officer for a little over 12 years,” said Sgt. Blake Warren. “I first started out with the Memphis Police Department, and it’s scarier now than it was then. We have all these different types of drugs and it’s getting worse every day.”

One of the substances panelists are most concerned about is called isotonitazene, a synthetic opioid that is more potent than fentanyl. According to forensic research…