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Akron program to help youth detox from opiates

Posted at 2:40 PM, Oct 03, 2015
and last updated 2015-10-03 14:40:01-04

A health center in northeast Ohio has established a program to help youngsters detox from opiates such as heroin.

The Akron Beacon Journal reports the Community Health Center in Summit County has established a daytime detox program at its facility in Akron for youths ages 12 to 17.

The center's director of adolescent services, Tiffanie Ferguson, says such programs are rare in the state.

Every year, the center treats more than 400 Summit County adolescents who have substance use disorders. Ferguson says they're seeing "more and more people" who are using opiates.

 Participants in the outpatient medical program spend four to six hours a day at the center, where they receive treatment for withdrawal symptoms and meet with doctors and nurses and receive counseling.