Target Market and Demand The target customer group for Open Arms Opioid Clinic will be all persons in Lee County with new or current prescriptions for opioid medications. Our secondary target customer group will be family members and friends of those customers who may be on opioid medications. Our target customers can be of any socio-economic class with no specified demographic. The quality of life of these customers will be improved by their willingness to take part in our program. In the past few years Alabama, especially Lee County, has cracked down on methadone clinics. Methadone is a treatment for opioid addiction, however a drawback is that it can also be abused. Lee County is the only remaining county in Alabama that would be allowed to open a new clinic due to the formula provided by Alabama Department …show more content…
This was a council created to address the opioid epidemic in Alabama. According to the New York Times, Alabama ranked as the highest state in the nation at 1.2 opioid prescriptions per capita in 2015. (2) In comparison the national average which was 0.71 per capita. (3) The fact that Alabama sits at the top of the list intensifies demand for our program. The abundance of people on opioid medications for pain management in Alabama is a harsh reality. Education is of paramount importance when dealing with opioid medications. Many people can become addicted and even lead to an overdose without proper counseling and education on these medications that have high tendencies for addiction. In 2015, 736 people died of drug overdoses in Alabama, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a 3.3 percent increase over the previous year. However, from 2013 to 2014 there was a 20 percent increase in drug overdoses. (4) Individuals with opioid prescriptions need to be educated, counseled and given appropriate help when