Hiding inside the cabinets of many Cass County households are tiny gateways that, in the wrong hands, could lead to a life of addiction and misery.

With the abuse of prescription painkillers growing into a larger and larger problem — including locally — several Cass County entities are joining forces to provide medical and social services professionals with the tools they need to handle opioid abuse occurring in their own backyards.

Members of the Cass County Prosecutor’s Office and the C.A.S.S. Coalition are organizing the first ever Cass County Opioid Summit, hosted at Southwestern Michigan College’s Dowagiac campus Friday. The event takes place from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and will feature speeches from several Michigan officials and professionals fighting against opioid addiction abuse, including Lt. Gov. Brian Calley, Assistant Attorney General Michelle Brya and Dr. Corey Waller, a specialist in addiction, pain and emergency medicine.

The summit is the result of the recent collaboration between employees with the prosecutor’s office and the C.A.S.S. Coalition — a community organization dedicating to addressing drug abuse issues in Cass County — that began several months ago,

“We are looking to help educate doctors and human services professionals, to let them know what to look for and how to handle someone dealing with opiate issues,” said said E.J. McAndrew, coordinator of the coalition and the prevention coordinator with Woodlands Behavioral Health Network, said about the summit. “It is an issue that is hitting very close to home.”

Southwest Michigan Behavioral Health provided the grant money to make the one-day seminar possible, McAndrew said.

Treating abuse of prescription opioid painkillers such as Vicodin and Demerol is a growing problem for U.S. healthcare and law enforcement professionals alike.

“The U.S. accounts for the use of 80 percent of the world’s opiate medicine,” McAndrew said. “As a country, we have an issue and Cass County is caught up in it as well.”

According to data from the Michigan Automated Prescription System, the average Cass County household contains 152 narcotic drugs, 127 of which are opiate-based, McAndrew said. That figure does not count pills that were prescribed from doctors in Indiana, which brings the average count up to more than 200, the coordinator added.

With so many unused pills floating around homes, some teenagers wind up abusing the medication and develop an addiction to opiates — which, in some cases, turns into an addiction to heroin, as the drug is sold for much cheaper than pills on the black market, McAndrew said.

During Friday’s summit, attendees can expect to learn more about what officials in Lansing are doing to address the issue of opioid abuse from Calley and Brya, the former of whom was the chair of Gov. Rick Snyder’s recent Prescription Drug and Opioid Abuse Task Force. Waller’s presentation will focus more on the medical end of the issue, tackling subjects about why patients abuse opioid medication and how to best help addicts break free from their dependencies, McAndrew said.

“Waller will help attendees understand some very complicated issues clearly and accurately,” McAndrew said.

Around 280 professionals are expected to attend the event, from Cass County and beyond, McAndrew said.

“The majority of people who signed up just want to know more about the problem,” McAndrew said. “They are dealing with the issue of opioid abuse either at work or in their personal lives.”

While registration is currently full, people interested in attending the seminar are encouraged to sign up for the waiting list at www.eventbrite.com/e/opioid-summit-for-human-service-professionals-understanding-addiction-prevention-treatment-tickets-24999772994.

Schedule of events

8 a.m. to 9 a.m. — Registration and meet and greet

9 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. — Welcome

Dave Mathews, Southwestern Michigan College president

Kathy Emans, Woodlands CEO

Victor Fitz, Cass County prosecutor

Sue Dobrich, Cass County probate judge

9:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. — Guest presentation

Michelle Brya, Michigan assistant attorney general

10 a.m. to 10:10 a.m. — Break

10:10 a.m. to noon — “Pain Addiction and the Complicated Patient” (Part 1)

R. Corey Waller, MD, senior medical director, education and policy with Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers

Noon to 1 p.m. — Lunch

1 p.m. to 3 p.m. — “Pain Addiction and the Complicated Patient” (Part 2)

R. Corey Waller, MD, senior medical director, education and policy with Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers

3 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. — Break

3:15 p.m. to 3:45 p.m. — Guest presentation

Brian Calley, Michigan lieutenant governor

3:45 to 4 p.m. — Leadership report

Kathy Emans, Woodlands CEO

Victor Fitz, Cass County prosecutor

Sue Dobrich, Cass County probate judge