Substance Misuse Prevention

Carlton County Public Health and Human Services began community programming to reduce substance use in 2013. In collaboration with other County Departments and Community Partners, we work to prevent substance use in Carlton County through a variety of different strategies like  building community partnerships and collaboration, safe disposal of prescription medications, youth prevention, community trainings (ex. naloxone, etc.), community engagement events, stigma reduction, and supporting individuals in recovery. Learn more about how Carlton County is reducing substance use below.

Carlton County Drug Prevention Coalition: The mission of the Carlton County Drug Prevention Coalition is to is to engage, inform, and bring awareness of substance use issues through education, prevention, enforcement, intervention, treatment, and recovery to build a healthy and safe community. The coalition is made up of a variety of professionals and community members working on strategies to reduce substance use in Carlton County. We address the entire spectrum of prevention from primary prevention efforts and programming to supporting those in recovery.

The coalition meets monthly on the first Monday of the month from 12 – 1pm. Most meetings are offered in a hybrid format, both in-person and via Microsoft Teams. Contact Ali Bachinski, the Coalition Coordinator for more information (218-481-4287  or ali.bachinski@carltoncountymn.gov).

Want to stay updated on what the coalition is doing? Follow us on Facebook!

Safe Prescription Medication Disposal Program:

• Contact Ali Bachinski to receive a free safe prescription medication disposal kit at no cost shipped directly to your home
• Attend bi-annual prescription medication Drug Take Back Days in April and October
• Dispose your unused prescription medications for free year – round at the following locations:
  • Carlton County Sheriff’s Office 
  • Cloquet City Hall
  • Moose Lake Police Department
  • Min No Aya Win Clinic

Carlton County Opioid Settlement Funds: Carlton County is expected to receive approximately $3 million dollars over the next 18 years as a result of national class action lawsuits against manufactures and distributors of pharmaceutical opioids. The settlement is not meant to compensate individuals who have suffered opioid-related harm; it is meant to provide funding to state, local, and tribal governments to implement forward-looking programs to reduce opioid use and opioid related deaths in communities.

To be in compliance with spending the funds, Carlton County must follow the MN Memorandum of Agreement to address strategies to reduce opioid use.

In years one and two of the funds; Carlton County utilized the funding in the following areas:

• Treatment: funded contract for a Peer Support Recovery program.
• Prevention:
  1. Leadership and coordination of the Carlton County Drug Prevention Coalition
  2. Expanded safe prescription medication disposal program
  3. Messaging to reduce substance use in the community and reduce stigma
  4. Support for those in recovery through community events led by a Peer Support Specialist
• Other Strategies: funded contract to evaluate programming, which includes developing measures, tracking outcomes, creating a dashboard of local data, and conducting focus groups with individuals with lived experience to guide future planning.

Cannabis Use: Carlton County is the recipient of state grant funding to prevent the underage use and misuse of cannabis. With new legislation legalizing cannabis products, efforts are underway to mitigate youth usage and to encourage community members of legal age to use cannabis in ways that are less harmful to themselves and to their communities.

Carlton County is getting involved! We:

• Encourage safe storage of cannabis products, keeping them locked up and out of reach of children and pets
• Provide education to youth on an on-demand basis within the our local schools
• Participated in the development of the Speaking of Cannabis campaign, which can be accessed here. It provides information and education that community members are encouraged to access and use to make informed choices about cannabis use and to guide youth through the process of making healthy decisions
• Continue to seek feedback from the community. Please contact Brynn Brons, Public Health Nurse with Carlton County with any questions, concerns, needs or ideas - we value your input (218-606-7022 or brynn.brons@carltoncountymn.gov).