Chemung County developing app to combat substance abuse

ELMIRA (WENY) -- A new mobile app could change the way substance abusers seek treatment in Chemung County.
Last month, the county's Department of Mental Hygiene partnered with the iMatter Foundation to start work on what will help to address the area's ongoing drug epidemic.
"Fatalities have doubled in the past year [and] we're administering about twice as much narcan as last year," says Brian Hart, Director of Community Services with the Chemung County Department of Mental Hygiene. "We really thought 'we've got to end the flow here and do something different.'"
The free app will allow users to easily access information about substances and their dangers. It will also work with an already-existing program that uses GPS to locate treatment and support.
Right now, there is mobile help and 24-hour emergency assistance through the Southern Tier Integration Team.
Hart says there is much more that can be done.
And that ongoing push isn't just within the county, nor the Southern Tier. Back in April, Governor Andrew Cuomo approved a 200-million dollar budget to combat substance abuse across the state.
Hart says now, more than ever, is when solutions like an app could be crucial.
"Millennials almost rely on it exclusively for communication, so if you're not getting into that part of the business, you're going to miss that entire generation that is getting into this issue," says Hart.
As of right now, the app could be finished and ready to download in as early as six months. Meanwhile, they're keeping in mind how the finished product could adapt to changes in the future.
"If we were talking three years ago, we probably would have been talking about synthetic marijuana. So we're making sure whatever we set up is not unique to just Chemung [County] and it's not unique to just this issue," says Hart. "It's broad enough that if the drug of choice may change in the future, we still have the ability to still be addressing these issues as they come forward."

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