(Audio from the meeting is below the story.)
Law Enforcement, Doctor, ‘Recovered Addict,’ Family Members Talk About Heroin
Epidemic. Disease. Hope.
These were three of the words panelists at Wednesday’s town hall meeting on the heroin crisis want people to take away from the program.
The meeting did start out with law enforcement talking about the problem.
City of Bradford Police Chief Chris Lucco and Bradford Township Chief Robb Shipman talked about what they’ve seen locally, and Drug Enforcement Agency agent Jim Higgins talked about it regionally and nationally saying, “It’s the worst drug epidemic this country has ever seen.”
United States Attorney Marshall Piccinini said one of the most important things to remember is you’re “not going to arrest your way out of a heroin epidemic.”
He said awareness, recovery, prevention and treatment are the keys to curbing the epidemic. But he also noted that a 28-day treatment program “is barely even a start” and a “warm hand-off” from detox to treatment to the next steps won’t work. Any gaps in the process, he said, will lead to relapse.
To understand what makes fighting the disease of addiction – and therefore the epidemic and its effects on entire communities – Dr. Henri Lamothe director of Bradford Regional Medical Center’s Emergency Department tried to explain what addiction is.
He said there is “something in people’s chemistry that allows them to get addicted.”
Later, during the question-and-answer part of the event, he said painkillers are for pain. If a person gets a high, or the best feeling they ever had, after taking a painkiller, they are probably susceptible to getting addicted.
Lamothe also explained that the thinking of a person who is addicted is not rational. He said he has used Narcan to resuscitate people who were close to death, and several hours later they tell him they are ready to go home but have no intention of looking into treatment.
“There’s a total disconnect,” he said.
He also addressed the controversy over Narcan in which some people ask why a person should be saved repeatedly only to go back and use heroin again.
He said we shouldn’t think of it that way, adding that most emergency responders are now “counting saves” not the repeat overdoses.
That point was illustrated during the question-and-answer portion when a man said his son had been brought back by Narcan three times and is now a counselor in a treatment program in Altoona.
The meeting also included presentations by family members of people are who currently dealing with addictions, as well as deaths in their families; and people in recovery.
Lisa Duke talked about the “eight year war that we lost” with her 25-year-old son who died of an overdose in November. She encouraged family members to attended Al-Anon meetings so they have someone to talk to who understands. (She says although it says “alcoholics” they do talk about drugs.)
Jennifer Kirk, a board member of Alcohol and Drug Abuse Services, is a recovered alcohol and drug addict who has been clean for 10 years.
She said addiction is a “family disease,” and added later in her talk that her 9-year-old daughter – who she believes God gave her to save her life – knows her entire story and even says she herself has 9 years of sobriety.
Kirk says it’s important to talk to children about addiction, and others agreed that it should not be kept in the dark any longer.
Later in the meeting, a former student in the Bradford Area School District said the DARE program currently includes discussions about what drugs look like and why they shouldn’t be taken, but wondered if the program includes information about addiction, withdrawal and detox.
School District Superintendent Katy Pude said it isn’t now but, “it will be. I promise you.”
Also Wednesday, several organizations had a variety of information available for people who needed it.
Lucco reminded people a couple of times during the meeting that one of the reasons for it was to find out what the community needs to do to move forward in the fight against the heroin epidemic.
More than 150 people attended the meeting, and more meetings are planned.
Intro with Jackie Shine, Director of BRMC’s Behavioral Health Services & Mayor Tom Riel. City of Bradford and Bradford Township chiefs of police Chris Lucco and Robb Shipman.
DEA Agent Jim Higgins
US Attorney Marshall Piccinini
Dr. Henri Lamothe
Lisa Duke
Jennifer Kirk