By Mary Lou Peter
K-State Research and Extension

MANHATTAN, Kan. – Perhaps you know someone who was prescribed a powerful pain medication after knee surgery. Perhaps it helped in those first days out of the hospital. Perhaps your friend or relative healed well and quit taking the medication – or not.

“Without a doubt, Kansas has been adversely affected by the opioid epidemic,” said Erin Yelland, Kansas State University assistant professor and extension specialist in adult development and aging. “Although we are not experiencing as many deaths due to heroin as in other states, we are flooded with an exorbitantly high number of prescription opioids.”

Approximately 115 Americans die every day from an opioid overdose and more are at risk, Yelland said. Like many of us, some were prescribed opioids initially as a pain management tool. Because of the risk of misuse and addiction, K-State Research and Extension educators are providing Kansans and others information about opioids.

Opioids are a class of drugs that include powerful legal prescription pain relievers that can be an important part of medical treatment, but carry the risk of addiction and overdose. The illegal drug heroin is also an opioid. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, from 1999 to 2015, the amount of prescription opioids dispensed in the United States nearly quadrupled, although there has been no verifiable change in the amount of pain Americans report.

“Many people are not aware that the medication they’ve been prescribed for knee pain or back pain is a highly addictive opioid,” said Yelland. She’s written a fact sheet and is featured in a video on the topic.

Kansas is ranked No. 18 in opioid prescriptions in the U.S., with 2,579,058 opioid prescriptions dispensed in 2017, according to the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. That amounted to 88.5 prescriptions per 100 Kansans, compared with the national average of 66.5 per 100 people.

What’s more fun on a fall Saturday afternoon than drinking samples of fine brewed beer? The Osage City Chamber of Commerce will present its annual Festival of Beer on Saturday, Sept. 29, 2018. The festival is expected to offer dozens of varieties of craft and imported beers, including some Kansas brews, for local beer aficionados to sample.

The ale fest event will be at the Jones Park pavilion, 517 S. First St., Osage City, with the first suds samples to be poured at 4 p.m. until 7 p.m. Food vendors will also be available. The event will also feature the Bryton Stoll Band for the evening’s live entertainment.

Advance tickets are $25 if purchased by Sept. 26; $30 at the gate. Tickets are available at Jerry’s Thriftway, Osage City, and Mulready’s, Emporia, or online at brownpaperticket.com. Must be 21 to attend.

Proceeds benefit the Osage City Chamber of Commerce and its community projects.