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Public health staff outline opioid-settlement data study, tobacco ordinance review and upcoming 'New Drug Talk' forum
Summary
County public-health staff described a $126,341 opioid settlement grant to fund a data-capacity assessment for alcohol and drug prevention, a review of the county’s Tobacco Retail License ordinance and outreach plans including a community 'New Drug Talk' event on Jan. 14.
County public-health staff told the Human Services Advisory Council that the department received $126,341 in opioid-settlement funds to support primary prevention work for alcohol and other drugs and will use part of those funds to commission a data-capacity assessment to identify what prevention-related data is available and how to make it accessible to community partners.
A county public-health staff member said the department is interviewing three potential contractors (OHSU, The REED Group, and Comagine) to conduct the data assessment. The assessment will catalog existing data sources, interview community partners about their needs, and make recommendations for how to collect and share data more effectively. “We talk a lot in our programs about making data driven decisions...the information and the data that you need...is very fragmented and difficult to find,” the staff member said. The grant-funded work is scheduled to run through 2027.
On tobacco prevention, staff said the county is reassessing the Clatsop County Tobacco Retail License (TRL) ordinance adopted in 2019–2020 to ensure enforcement and sustainability; staff noted differences between the county ordinance and a newer state TRL program. The county ordinance currently prohibits discounts on tobacco products and sets a 1,000-foot buffer from schools for new retailers; the state program uses a five-year lookback period for violations while the county’s lookback is 24 months, a difference staff said weakens the county ordinance compared with the state standard.
Public-health staff also highlighted perinatal outreach, youth tobacco-prevention activities (including a student video contest called Escape the Vape), and a parent/community education event called New Drug Talk scheduled for Tuesday, Jan. 14, 6–8 p.m. at the Times Theater (free dinner, raffle and naloxone distribution). Staff said they will forward flyers and invited council members to attend and help publicize the event.
Separately, public-health staff reported a small Roundhouse Foundation grant used to purchase high-dose flu vaccine for people 65 and older and mentioned ongoing community-health-needs-assessment (CHNA) coordination with Providence and Columbia Memorial Hospital. Staff noted several open positions in the department, including an environmental health specialist and health promotion roles.
Council members asked that public-health prevention projects and the data-capacity assessment be regular agenda items moving forward.
