Opioids and Quest to Save Lives Raises Awareness

By Jennifer L. Warren

NEWBURGH – They came for all different reasons: some had lost a loved one; others wanted to learn more; still others desired to share their expertise.

Regardless of what brought them to Newburgh’s Armory Unity Center Saturday afternoon, each person who attended the three hour conversation, “Opioids & the Quest to Save Lives” wanted to help understand and alleviate a growing epidemic in the Hudson Valley that is too often senselessly claiming lives of all ages that transcend every social and economic plane.

“I’m here today to raise awareness to the disease of substance misuse; children/teens often start to find fun in high risk behavior then find themselves using drugs and triggering a disease that cannot easily be overcome,” explained Fishkill’s Lisa Bennett, who lost her 22 year old son on December 5, 2016 to cocaine misuse. “Moms everywhere join to advance for the prevention education, Immediate Treatment on Demand, including Detox and Recovery programs afterwards, so our loved ones can continue recovery efforts and lead productive lives.”

Bennett, wearing her son’s senior high school photo around her neck, was joined by a group of mothers making a similar gesture, “putting faces” to this rising problem plaguing not only Newburgh or the Hudson Valley, but the nation. It’s what prompted Saturday’s efforts, led by Assemblyman, Frank Skartados and assisted by a seven member panel of experts, residents and policymakers.

“Today is a good day to have this discussion, “ Skartados welcomed guests. “We are here to learn how to save a life if we can.”

Newburgh resident, Lauren Mandel, was one of those seven who comprised the panel. Losing her son Zane to opioid in September 2017, she too had a photo of him nearby.

“I’m what all parents are afraid to be, having two sons, but only one here,” said an emotional Mandel. “My son used to tell me how you can’t help a junkie; I don’t know if the system failed him, but I do know we can do more.”

With 64,000 drug-related deaths occurring annually in the United States, that urgent need for more can’t come soon enough. Many of those possible “answers” were delved into by the panel. Some of them included; anonymous free drug checking services that successfully work in areas outside of the U.S., supervised injection facilities and syringe exchanges as well as the removal of the stigmas attached to both, a multi agency coordinated approach, decriminalization of drugs, local hotlines, and perhaps most pressingly, methadone, a proven substance to block the destructive effects of opioids. It’s the latter panacea of methadone that shocked Kassandra Frederique, the New York State Director of the Drug Policy Alliance (DPA) is not being used more frequently. More disturbing to many was the fact that a “Meth” clinic exists right here in the City of Newburgh.

“People are dying for no reason; exclaimed Frederique. “There is a place here in your City to help them; we have the answer to help solve this crisis, just really need to develop compassion toward where these people are at and get rid of all the negative stigmas, such as “junkie” and “unclean,” which takes away dignity.”

She continued, “So many people are convinced there is only one way to approach recovery, not true at all.”

The discussion further brought to the surface other deeply-rooted topics; self love, varying reasons people use and perhaps most incisively, the need for those who do help to keep an open mind, above all else.

“Listen, why do you think so many people are using?” posed Dr. Carl Hart, Chair of the Department of Psychology at Columbia University and a neuroscientist who has done two decades of research on drug use. “It’s because they work for them in some way; we need to understand that; we also need to truly separate those who simply use Opioids from those who are addicts.”

And perhaps even more, it’s critical to understand that those who fall into the web of drug misuse want to get better, but it’s by no means an easy road.

“The people who come to me are broken; they have absolutely no idea what to do and don’t want to be taking drugs, but know no other way available to feel better,” said Vincent Trunzo, a Substance Abuse Counselor at Cornerstone’s Family Healthcare’s Center for Recovery in Newburgh. “When they do get fixed, they end up looking just like you and me, no different at all.”