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Forum Discusses Heroin Epidemic Challenges

Considered a scourge across the Northeast that doesn’t discriminate, heroin has wrecked many lives and become a public health crisis. Last night, a panel of experts and advocates discussed heroin and opioid addiction as part of a forum that will air later this week onMountain Lake PBS in Plattsburgh.
The public television station in Plattsburgh has hosted several forums looking at the ongoing problem of heroin and opioid addiction and work that is being done to stem what some are calling an epidemic.   In introducing the Mountain Lake Journal panel, host Thom Hallock described the depth of the problem.    “You might still think of heroin as the inner city problem.  But many of our communities in northern New York and Vermont have become inviting targets for drug dealers. It is basic economics.  A bag of heroin which can be bought for as little as $5 in New York City can be sold for $30 or more just a few hours up Interstate 87. And heroin still costs less than many of the painkillers and other drugs that are out on the streets. So dealers are flooding the region and creating an addiction crisis.”

Panelists included law enforcement officers and treatment experts, the region’s legislative representatives, a recovering addict and a documentary producer.  Treatment facilities in northern New York are rare with many addicts opting for detox traveling hundreds of miles.  Champlain Valley Family Center Executive Director Connie Wille explained that they are close to opening a desperately needed facility near Plattsburgh.   “Access is limited in terms of the level of care that someone may need when they come in or just in terms of out-patient slots. There’s additional noise being brought to this huge epidemic and some people are starting to come to treatment and the access is really hampered right now.”

The surge in addiction has been exacerbated by misuse of narcotic prescription drugs.  Assemblywoman Janet Duprey has hosted a series of legislative forums looking at how Albany could deal with the rise in addiction to illegal drugs.  “One of the main issues that continues to come up at every forum is the opiate use is generally a result of the prescription drugs.  Somebody’s had surgery and they get these prescription drugs and they’re in the house or the children have had wisdom teeth pulled and they have them left over. That’s a huge issue.  What do you do with them?”

Recovering heroin addict Vern Witherbee described how he would lie and deny that he was a heroin addict, until a judge refused him custody of his son.   “My heart was ripped out.  I obviously I love my son more than I love myself at the time. I had to face the reality that my addiction had brought me to this point and I realized that I wasn’t going to be able to lie my way out of it and just say I’m not an addict, I don’t use heroin. So I had to seek out help.”

Participants emphasized the need for society to move past the stigma of addiction.  Wille says too many people forget that addiction is a disease.   “It’s really incumbent upon us all to understand that it is a disease. They are our neighbors.  They are our family members. This is not an epidemic that has targeted a small portion of our population.  And we can’t make it kind of ‘those’ people.”  

The Heroin Crisis: Fighting Back debuts Friday, Nov. 20th and will be available online
 

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