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Part 1: We Know There’s a Problem. What Can Be Done About It? hat’s the question The Current hoped and suicide. They kill more Americans each year to answer for the Highlands. Last year, than die in auto crashes or gun violence. They Tdrug overdoses – the most visible marker are killing people faster than H.I.V. ever did. And of the epidemic – killed 64,000 Americans, the addition of fentanyl to the mix with heroin a 22 percent increase over the year before. has made the epidemic even deadlier. About 15,400 of those deaths involved heroin, When fentanyl showed up in the Hud- 20,000 involved fentanyl (a synthetic that is 50 son Valley in late 2013, there were 68 heroin to 100 times more powerful than morphine) overdoses in Poughkeepsie in less than two and 14,400 involved prescription painkillers, months. Fentanyl is widely used in medicine; according to preliminary federal data. much of what is found on the street is manu- On July 31 a commission assembled by Presi- factured in illicit labs in China and Mexico. dent Donald Trump to address the crisis made an Why wait for a poppy to grow? A lethal dose urgent recommendation that he declare a na- At a vigil held in Cold Spring on Aug. 31 to raise aware- is about 2 milligrams, which looks like a few tional emergency, noting that the overdose death ness of overdose deaths, a participant adds Matt Her- grains of salt. It is so potent that police officers rate in the U.S. has reached the equivalent of 142 ring's name to painted rocks. Herring, 24, of Wappingers can be sickened during drug busts. And deal- people per day. Falls, died on Aug. 25. Photo by Ross Corsair ers are now importing the even more deadly The problem is not far away. Dutchess and carfentanil, an elephant tranquilizer that is Putnam counties together have an overdose 10,000 times more powerful than morphine, serve International Overdose Awareness Day to mix with heroin. Chinese suppliers sell 2 death, on average, about every four days. State- and call for more resources to fight the ex- wide, about seven people die each day. From pounds of the drug – enough for 50 million panding shadows. We saw it in graffiti near the doses – for about $2,750. 2013 to 2015, Dutchess had the second highest Metro-North station: “Cold Spring Kills Kids & rate of overdose deaths per capita in the state Breaks Hearts.” According to a federal report released last (trailing nearby Sullivan County); Putnam was month, nearly 600,000 teenagers and adults in in the middle of the pack, but the rates in both Overdoses have become the leading cause of the U.S. are addicted to heroin, and more than counties were higher than those of death for Americans under 50, outpacing assault 2 million to prescription painkillers. New York City or the state. Doctors in Putnam County write On Aug. 18, Forrest Ryzy-Ryski, Originally published in The Current in September and 50,000 prescriptions annually for opi- a 2011 graduate of Haldane High October 2017, this series has four parts. oids; in Dutchess, it’s 165,000, both at per-capita rates higher than New School in Cold Spring and a talented In Part 1, reporters Michael Turton and Liz Schevtchuk Arm- artist, writer and martial arts fighter, York City or the state at large. Most strong spoke with the parents of young men who struggled with states, including New York, have became the latest casualty when he opioid addiction. One died, one survived, but they faced many of died of a heroin overdose in Geor- cracked down on doctors who over- the same obstacles in getting treatment. We asked the parents to prescribe, but that forces many ad- gia, where he was attending Ken- share their experiences, hoping it would provide a road map. nesaw State University. He was 23. dicts to turn to street drugs, whose In Part 2, we examined the role of law enforcement and the potency is harder to measure. A memorial service was held courts in battling the epidemic. Turton looked at the work of the To find out more about the fight in Garrison on Sept. 10. The day Putnam County Drug Treatment Court, while Jeff Simms spent after his death, on Facebook, his against opioid addiction in the time with Beacon and Dutchess County police officers who are at Highlands, The Current created grandmother posted an anguished the front lines. plea: “I wish I could go with him an enterprise journalism fund with and take care of him, tell him that In Part 3, we explained treatment options. Brian PJ Cronin initial contributions from members I love him and try to understand profiled the Dutchess County Stabilization Center, an innovative of our board of directors. Their sup- the big why.” In frustration, she first stop for those in crisis, while Anita Peltonen and Armstrong port allowed our writers, photogra- warned others who, perhaps, think visited treatment centers at Graymoor in Garrison, Arms Acres in phers and designers — Chip Rowe, they do not need help: “There is Carmel and CoveCare Center (formerly Putnam Family & Com- Scott Veale, Michael Turton, Liz no answer, you also will die, it is a munity Services) in Carmel. Schevtchuk Armstrong, Jeff Simms, Anita Peltonen, Kate Vikstrom, Lynn matter of time. Your grandmother Finally, in Part 4, we shared the thoughts of specialists, coun- will shed tears to no end, too.” selors, doctors and those struggling with addiction about what Carano, Ross Corsair and Brian PJ they feel should take priority in addressing the problem. Cronin — to spend more time on We saw some of that pain on this project than they would for a Aug. 31 at the Cold Spring band- We appreciate your feedback about the series and thoughts typical news story. We hope to ad- stand, when those struggling with about how best to address the epidemic. Email editor@highland- dress other national issues of local addiction and their families and scurrent.com. importance in the near future. supporters came together to ob- 2 September - October, 2017 The Highlands Current highlandscurrent.com

of the user in the hope that it is Sasha’s Story a phase. “Those were the two “So much pain; so many camps,” Melanie says. “You were questions” either tough love or an enabler.” Help hard to come by By Michael Turton Denial was not an issue in the lexander “Sasha” Matero, Matero household. of Garrison, died in 2014 of “We tried to attack it head on Aan overdose after struggling as best we could, given the limited with an opioid addiction since knowledge we had and the outside before he graduated from Haldane help we could find,” Jim says. A lethal dose of the synthetic opioid High School in 2007. He was bur- fentanyl. DEA The first time they found Sasha ied on what would have been his badly impaired, they knew it was 25th birthday. The Materos, who own Jaymark not from smoking a little marijuana. Jewelers on Route 9, had medical Jim and Melanie Matero ad- But it wasn’t heroin, either. They opted Sasha from Russia in 1999, insurance that entitled their son to took him to the emergency room, 30 days of rehab. when he was 9. They remember where Melanie said they were told: their son as a curious, intelligent “That’s nothing that needs detox. Four days after he was admit- and personable young man with a Sasha Matero There’s no need to admit him. You ted, they say the insurer told them smile that lit up a room. “He really can take him home.” that Sasha would be released in had a joie de vivre,” Melanie says. what quickly became an addiction. two days. “How can that can be?” “He lost his entire social group Jim argued, telling the doctors, “No! Jim recalls asking. The response: In 2005, when he was a sopho- because he could no longer play Something is seriously wrong here.” more in high school, Sasha had “It’s his first time. That’s all he soccer,” she said. “He lost his iden- The next afternoon, they took surgery to repair his ACL, a knee liga- needs.” tity and the painkillers helped him Sasha to their family doctor. Mela- ment, which he had injured in an ac- The six-day stint was the only time deal with that.” nie believes the ER visit had fright- cident. During his recovery, he took during Sasha’s illness that their insur- ened her son. “He let the doctor opioid painkillers. “It wasn’t a big The Materos think the painkillers ance covered the cost of rehab. were overprescribed initially but tell us that he thought he had topic of conversation at the time,’’ After paying for another week say other factors quickly followed. a drug problem,” she said. The Jim recalls. “The doctor prescribed on their own, they appealed the “I’m sure he’d go to a party and problem was the opioid pain pills. it. You have to trust the doctor.” insurance company’s decision take whatever kids had, take a lot The Materos asked how to get to the New York State attorney Becoming addicted of Dimetapp [cough syrup], smoke Sasha admitted to a residential general. The AG’s office sided with The pills “flipped the switch,” Mela- some pot, as long as it killed the drug treatment program, but were the insurer. Because Sasha was not nie says. “The painkillers worked. They pain,” Melanie says. told he would first have to fail at an made the pain go away.” a danger to himself or others, and She said that at the time Sasha’s outpatient program (a policy that because there was no other history She believes the ACL injury led addiction began parents took two has since changed). of drug abuse in the home, they her son to experience a loss of basic approaches: (1) “Just say no Because Sasha was adopted and found no reason to keep him in the self-esteem that contributed to to drugs,” or (2) take good care had scant medical history regarding program. his mental health or genetic predis- Sasha was eligible for outpatient position to addiction, the doctor peer-to-peer counseling in which suggested he be taken to a psychi- young adults talk to other young atric hospital for evaluation. adults about their addiction. The All he needs problem: according to Sasha, the Just before his 18th birthday main topic of conversation was and after nearly two weeks in the how to beat drug tests and which psychiatric ward, Sasha entered an dealers had the best prices. inpatient rehab program. “We were fortunate,” Jim says.

Chart by Lynn Carano Jim and Melanie Matero Photo by M. Turton highlandscurrent.com The Highlands Current September - October, 2017 3

“Sasha was open with us about what mother to fighting addiction.” was going on. We were mortified.” Following Sasha’s death, The couple approached the the Materos chose to be open program’s director. “He said he about what happened. “We put thought Sasha was exaggerating,” the cause of death in the obitu- she says. They decided to leave ary,” Melanie says. “People were the program. shocked, but there is nothing to be ashamed of.” Never gave up Sasha’s battle with his addic- “I’m happy that people are talk- tion would last for more than seven ing,” Jim says. “It’s coming out of its years, until his death. “It was like two deep, dark hole.” steps forward and three steps back,” Melanie recalls. “We tried four or five Max’s Story times to get him into rehab.” By Liz Schevtchuk Armstrong They paid for a 30-day program but felt they had to lie to Sasha, hen Teri Barr discovered telling him it was covered by insur- Participants at an Aug. 31 vigil at the bandstand in Cold Spring added names to in 2009 that her son, Max, ance. “He felt terrible about it, that painted rocks that were placed around the bandstand among the flowers. Wwas using drugs, she he had this disease,” Melanie says. Photo by Ross Corsair was well aware of the challenges “He didn’t want us to be burdened she faced. She had been an ad- financially.” dict herself, years before, but had advised them to take their son off line, ‘died surrounded by loved survived. After he turned 18, Sasha also their insurance. ones,’ ” Melanie says, because it didn’t want to live at home. “There sounds so peaceful and dignified. It took four years, but Max also are many behavioral symptoms of “They told us he’d get much “So much pain, so many ques- survived. His mother, who at the addiction — it’s a disease of the better, quicker access if on Medic- tions,” says Melanie of her son’s time owned Hudson Valley Outfit- brain,” Melanie says. “He didn’t aid,” she says. death. Why did he overdose just as ters on Main Street in Cold Spring, want to expose us to that.’’ After taking that step, they were led him through a whirlwind of told that there were no beds avail- he was about to enter treatment? Sasha was always independent, “My guess is that it was a last hurrah,” treatment programs, withdrawals she says, and he found jobs, lived able. In the meantime, Sasha could and relapses, court appearances go to a supervised homeless shel- Melanie says. “If you’re going in for with roommates and worked hard. bariatric surgery, you’re going to have and incarceration and, finally, im- “He was smart; he could get jobs ter. The shelter turned him away mersion in a program in California. because he had just spent time in steak and potatoes and all the butter easily,” his mother says. He gradu- and sour cream you can eat.” Max, who now lives in Florida, ated from high school a year early a psychiatric hospital. It’s unclear if Sasha knew there still receives therapy but is no lon- by taking classes at Dutchess Coun- Next, someone advised them to was fentanyl in the mix. “It was ger struggling with drug addiction, ty Community College and was have Sasha arrested so the Putnam just coming onto the scene then,” his mother says. Getting to that certified in HVAC. “He was func- County Drug Treatment Court causing a spike in overdoses, Mela- point was not easy. tioning through all this, yet his brain could send him to rehab. nie says. A prescription needed drugs more and more.” “He wasn’t breaking the law; he Barr says her son became ad- was coming to us saying that he After Sasha’s death, a friend Unbelievable frustration dicted when he was 14. His feet wants help!” Melanie says. “You feel offered the Materos, who have The family’s journey through ad- had been badly sunburned while like you’re Alice in Wonderland and three adult children, what they feel diction was arduous and incredibly boating, and a doctor prescribed things aren’t as they should be.” is wise advice: don’t spend much frustrating. time on the “why,” but on what lies an opioid painkiller. After exhaust- “There were times he’d get very “The toll it took on him, on the ahead. Their experience has made ing the first prescription, “we went tired of it and reach out for help family, and all your friends was just them painfully aware of the seri- back to the doctor and asked for and we’d do our best – but there unbelievable,” Jim adds. “I don’t ousness of the opioid epidemic, more, because he was in pain,” were no resources.” Jim says. “He’d know if words can adequately de- but they say they are not allowing Barr said. “As a mom, I didn’t want come to us on a Friday night and scribe the frustration.” it to overwhelm them. him to be in pain.” say, ‘I can’t do this anymore; I can’t Cheap and easy “I feel like our family lost a son She believes the stage was set live like this; I need your help.’ ” The Materos are unsure when to addiction,” Melanie says. “I don’t for Max’s struggles even before Friday night calls to a hotline Sasha turned to heroin, but his want our other children to lose their his injury. “All of a sudden, a kid proved futile. “They’d give us the behavior and moods became more doesn’t just turn into an addict,” number for Arms Acres [in Carmel] erratic. “It was more toward the or St. Christopher’s [in Garrison], end,” Jim says. “You could tell and they’d say, ‘We open at 9 a.m. by his personality when he was Monday, give us a call then,’ ” Jim involved with drugs and when he says. “For most of this time Sasha wasn’t.” was not using heroin, so there was Unlike the prescription pain nothing for him to detox out of. He pills, heroin was inexpensive and wasn’t physically impaired. There’s relatively easy to find. “Cheap and no treatment for that.” easy is a recipe for disaster,” Jim The Materos were advised says. “It’s what you’re seeing in the that if they felt Sasha’s life was in community constantly now.” danger they should take him to In March 2014 Sasha found a the psychiatric ward at Putnam Salvation Army rehab program in Hospital Center in Carmel. Dur- upstate New York. He made ar- ing one crisis, Melanie remembers rangements to enroll. But that day Sasha saying, “I’m not going to kill he was found dead in a hotel room myself, but if I go back out on the in Newburgh from an overdose of street tonight, I might use so much heroin laced with fentanyl. that I die.” Unanswered questions They took him for a 72-hour ob- servation, and the treatment center “I often feel a pang of jealousy when I read the classic obituary Teri Barr with her son, Max Photo provided 4 September - October, 2017 The Highlands Current highlandscurrent.com she says. “Kids who are vulnerable tinued, she found she could not to using drugs have a need to feel concentrate on her work. accepted” but never quite feel Thankfully, she had “amazing they fit in, she says. employees” she could rely on. Around the same time, Max be- She also found support, she says, gan smoking marijuana. His mother at Al-Anon; the Putnam County- packed him off to a wilderness based organization Drug Crisis in camp, and “it worked,” she says. Our Backyard, created by Susan “It was good.” and Steve Salomone after their son What happened next was not so died of a heroin overdose; sup- good. portive friends and her religious faith, she says. A safe place “I would do anything I could to On the suggestion of the camp staff, Barr enrolled Max in a private keep him safe. They may seem school in New England but soon like extreme solutions, but this is discovered that there was widespread an extreme problem.” ~Teri Barr drug use among its students. So Max came home to Cold Over the years, the details of Spring to live with his mother. (Barr Max’s struggle have blurred, but and Max’s father are divorced.) Be- they aren’t important, Barr says. fore long, money began to disap- “The point is that I was trying to pear from the house and she found keep him in a place where he was 0 3 6 9 12 15 drug paraphernalia. safe and he might hear the mes- sage about sobriety and recovery.” Interventions ensued: counsel- ing, psychiatrists, a hospital in It took a trip to jail to get there. Chart by Lynn Carano Kingston, stints in Arms Acres In 2013, Max and a friend stole treatment center in Carmel. There her guitar. They were recorded by were so many rehabs she lost made sense and the charges were that patients be Scientologists, a security camera in a shop north dropped. Barr made the final ar- and Max is not a follower of the count. “Probably 15 to 20” in four of Cold Spring trying to sell it. years, she says. “It seems like I was rangements, picked him up from religion, Barr says. But what it had always taking him” somewhere, “I knew I had to get him off jail, and drove him to the airport. to offer worked for him. or “always scribbling down places the street,” she said. “I pressed “I would do anything I could to “When you have a situation that where I could put him.” charges.” keep him safe,” she says. “They is a microcosm of the world, where There were also frightening Jail time may seem like extreme solutions, you can work on stuff, where there runs to the emergency room – not Max was incarcerated at the Put- but this is an extreme problem.” are trained therapists to help you because of overdoses but because nam County jail, where he remained She says from experience that through, that’s when the healing Max would try to detox on his own for six weeks, underwent treatment addiction is tough to treat, noting starts for some people,” she says. and suffered side effects, she says. and awaited his court date. Mean- that teenage boys seem especially The program had a strict regimen that provided structure “that we The upheaval took a toll. Barr while, Barr found a treatment center vulnerable. All the recent overdose in California able to take him. deaths in Philipstown have been couldn’t give him at home because had kept her hiking and outdoor he rebelled against it.” supplies store going despite the When Max’s case came up in young men, she says. “The boys 2008 downturn, competition from Cold Spring Justice Court, she struggle,” she says. “They’re too Her story online outlets and the vagaries says, Judge Thomas Costello proud, their egos are too proud, Decades ago, Barr struggled with of doing business in small-town agreed that sending him to the to get help. They think they know her own addiction. She began abus- America. But as Max’s saga con- facility for sustained treatment everything.” ing alcohol and drugs at age 13, There is also the stigma of be- she says. Around age 25, she finally ing addicted. “Addiction is an al- asked for help and was taken to a lergy to the body and a disease of recovery house in North Hollywood the mind,” she says. “I don’t think that kept its patients busy. When not people understand that.” attending group therapy and cours- In Max’s case, leaving Cold Spring es, “we raked, swept up, cleaned helped. He has never returned. bathrooms, peeled potatoes,” she recalls. “I don’t think they do that Since that day his mother drove these days” in treatment. him to the airport, two of his Cold Spring friends have died from She says that, as with Max, a key overdoses. to her recovery was the structure. Before arriving, “I didn’t know how A new start to live,” she says, adding that she After Max left for treatment in Cali- didn’t realize there was a differ- fornia, Barr relocated as well, in 2013. ent way to live until she got sober. The move was in part to care for her “Having that experience of living ailing mother. Her ex-husband also had differently is what changes us.” moved to the state for a job. Like other people his age, Max Max spent five or six months at is “trying to find his way,” Barr the treatment center, which re- says. “He’s still searching for what quires that patients complete its works for him” and trying to make program, no matter how long it friends. Although he is not on opi- takes. The center, called Narconon, oids, “his struggle with addiction is linked to the Church of Scientol- and mental illness may never be 0 5 10 15 20 25 ogy, using approaches developed over,” she says. “He’s 22 and sober by L. Ron Hubbard, the science and for me that’s good enough. fiction author who in 1955 created He’s on his own journey now.” Chart by Lynn Carano the religion. It does not require highlandscurrent.com The Highlands Current September - October, 2017 5

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Part 2: Beyond Punishment: Cops and Courts Rethink Strategy hat is the role of law enforcement in battling A Day in Drug Wthe epidemic? Many of- Court ficers and judges have reached the conclusion that imprisoning A chance to avoid prison addicts is not enough. — and stay alive

“I don’t think arrests are By Michael Turton going to enable us to get our arms around this problem,” said t takes a single visit to Put- Putnam County District Attor- nam County’s weekly drug ney Robert Tendy at a forum in Icourt in Carmel to realize March at the Garrison School. how serious the stakes are for “We’re doing so much, trying so everyone involved. hard, doing so well [with arrests Defendants arrive in the and convictions], and the prob- waiting room of the court, lem is getting worse.” known officially as Judicial Di- At the same time, police of- version/DWI Treatment Court, ficers are saving lives. On Sept. well ahead of time. Judge 5, three Putnam County Sheriff’s Eric Adams and Richard Jones Photos by Paige Sutherland/NHPR and Butler County Sheriff's Office James Reitz does not tolerate deputies saved a Patterson man late arrivals. Many of the de- who had apparently overdosed, fendants know each other. by administering a nasal spray summer tourists is a city about the size of “Court is going to suck today,” says one. known as Narcan that acts as an opioid anti- Bea con. In 2014 he became the first officer “The judge is going to lecture us again.” dote. in the country with the title of prevention, “When doesn’t he lecture us?” Over the past few years, as more people enforcement and treatment coordinator. His have become addicted, two extreme posi- business cards read: “The Laconia Police De- A woman complains that her son is in the tions appear to have formed. At one end partment recognizes that substance misuse is county jail because he tested positive after of the continuum is Sheriff Richard Jones of a disease. We understand you can’t fight this taking painkillers following oral surgery. “It’s Butler County, Ohio, where the death rate alone.” stupid,” she says. “You can’t do anything” from overdoses is three times that of the Earlier this year, Adams was profiled in The while in the program. Highlands. He has long refused to allow his New York Times. A police officer who shows “Your lawyer has to deal with something deputies to carry Narcan. “We don’t do the up to assist addicts and not arrest them is like that,” someone else advises. “They have shots for bee stings, we don’t inject diabetic news. He listens to the scanner for overdos- to know ahead of time — not after.” people with insulin. When does it stop?” es, then drives to the scene in an unmarked In another conversation nearby, someone he has said. “I’m not the one that decides cruiser. The moments after an addict wakes if people live or die. They decide that when says: “When we do drugs, we don’t think about up from an overdose can be an excellent dying. We just think about getting high.” they stick a needle in their arm.” time to convince him or her to seek treat- At the other is Eric Adams, a police officer ment, and Adams offers a ride. 'Life is great' in Laconia, New Hampshire, which without The officer keeps a spreadsheet of ev- After the 30 or so defendants file into the ery person he has courtroom, Reitz asks anyone to stand who helped. By his count, knows a woman named Samantha who had as of July, he had appeared in court the previous week. encountered 204 A few stand. “She was doing well,” Re- addicts: 92 are in itz says. “She told me, ‘How can life not be treatment, 84 are in great? I’m clean and sober and working. I’m recovery, and zero getting my degree. I’m doing great.’ ” Her have died. most recent court-ordered drug test, three We wanted to find days earlier, had come up negative. out more about how That same afternoon, she was found dead law enforcement in of an overdose. the Highlands views “Twenty-seven-years old,” says Reitz. “And the epidemic. Where just a few days ago everything was ‘great.’ ” do we fall between Sheriff Jones and As he does at each session, Reitz admon- Officer Adams? We ishes everyone present. “You have to make decided to start good decisions,” he says. “You can never let where many addicts your guard down. If you stay alive, we can in Putnam County help you.” who are arrested end The program The opioid crisis has increased risks for police officers because synthetic opioids up, if they’re lucky being added to heroin are so dangerous that agents can be sickened simply by — drug treatment The first drug treatment court in the U.S. inhaling them. Here, federal agents are washed down after dismantling a lab that court. was created in Miami-Dade County in 1989 in contained fentanyl. The lethal dose is the size of a few grains of salt. DEA response to the crack cocaine epidemic. The premise is simple. Defendants arrested 6 September - October, 2017 The Highlands Current highlandscurrent.com for certain non-violent felonies who officer or counselor. Some stand suffer from drug or alcohol addic- with an attorney. All must attend tion can agree to enter a court- the session from start to finish. supervised treatment program that Unlike the case in the waiting lasts a minimum of two years. Eli- room, all are on their best behavior gible crimes include selling drugs, in court. theft, larceny and burglary; addicts often steal to fund their habit. If “You expect me to believe this the defendant completes the pro- nonsense? You’ve been in this program gram, the charges are dismissed or greatly reduced and the person how long?” ~ Judge Reitz, to a man avoids prison time. who claimed he tested positive for Today there are more than drugs because of a dietary supplement 3,000 such courts in the U.S., including in Putnam and Dutchess Reitz: How are you doing? counties and Beacon. Most handle Judge James Reitz, with his back to camera, speaks during a Drug Treatment Court Man in his 30s: I’m doing the right session in 2014. NBC News only adults, but some specialize thing. I’m clean and sober. in juveniles, veterans and other Reitz: So you’re doing all right. Can groups. right? Man in his 50s: Yes, I’m happy. It’s we help you with anything? Coordinator: Yes, she’s doing well. a big turnaround. It’s a great op- In Carmel, a team reviews each Man: You already have. portunity. case to determine if the person Reitz: Never let your guard down. Reitz: You’ve earned your nine- month coin. Reitz: I’d rather give out coins than qualifies. It includes Reitz and two Man: I won’t. send you to prison or read about other court officials, lawyers from Reitz: Any questions? Reitz routinely awards coins and your death. You’re an inspiration. the district attorney’s office and Man: No, sir. certificates for milestones. He pres- Keep it up. One day at a time. Legal Aid, two citizens, a probation Reitz: You’re doing good work. ents the coin. Everyone applauds. The encounter does not go officer, someone from the Sher- Keep it up. Reitz: How are you doing? iff’s Office and counselors from as well for the next defendant, a Reitz: How are you doing? Man about 30: Very well. 40-year-old man. He failed a drug the county department of mental Woman in her 20s: Really well. Reitz: Any questions? health and a local treatment center. test after taking amphetamines. He Reitz: Why so? Man: No, I want to thank you for stands with his Legal Aid lawyer. Is everything great? Woman: I’m sober. letting me travel to my brother’s Reitz: I understand transportation wedding. It meant a lot. I even Reitz asks for an explanation. At the typical court session, The man says that he drank a a defendant usually speaks to here was an issue? made a speech. Woman: I made an effort, I really Reitz: When you make good deci- dietary supplement that was being the judge for only a few minutes. given out at a fitness club. During the appearance, each wanted to be here. sions, you earn more trust. person submits a written update Reitz: Be sure to thank the driver Man: Everything is under control. “That’s it?” Reitz says. “You ex- addressed to his or her probation who brought you. Reitz: You’ve made some good pect me to believe this nonsense? Reitz, to coordinator: She’s good, decisions. You’ve been in this program how

Q&A: Judge James Reitz By Michael Turton How significant a factor is It’s easy for those unaffected mental health? by any of this to say that. And in How effective is treatment At one time, we had a treatment a sense they’re right. But that’s court? court for mental health. It was a why we have treatment court. Spend two or more years in the big mistake to stop it. It’s rare you We give them every opportunity program and there’s an 87 per- find someone arrested on a seri- to be successful and to not go cent chance you’ll be successful ous charge who doesn’t have a to jail. But if they keep commit- after graduation. During the first dual diagnosis — either primary ting crimes and doing drugs, why 10 to 12 years we’ve had a 13 per- substance abuse and secondary should they be allowed to kill cent recidivism rate. In October mental health or vice versa. someone because they’re high we’ll have six or seven graduates behind the wheel, or to burglarize who’ll have their charges dis- How many violations are a home to pay for their habit and missed or reduced. They’ll move allowed before someone is stab or shoot somebody when on. We do save people’s lives. expelled? confronted? There’s no cookie cutter. Do defendants sign an agree- What is the toughest chal- Someone may have six or seven lenge defendants face? ment? violations and stay in the pro- Staying alive, to give us time Yes. Each agreement is tailored gram while someone else may to hold them accountable. It’s a to the individual’s situation: back- have only three or four and go to Judge James Reitz Photo by M. Turton minimum two-year program and ground, age, criminal charges, prison. drugs involved, etc. But there How many of those in be- I won’t take “no” for an answer. are common elements regarding You award coins to defen- came addicted initially to If they don’t do things that force cooperation and accountability. dants as they reach mile- prescribed painkillers? them out of the program, we have stones. Why is that impor- a fighting chance to change their It seems odd that someone Eighty-five to 90 percent. tant? There are exceptions, but the lives. has to be arrested to get They’re symbols of accomplish- into the program. majority moved from prescription They think they have it tough ment. Any time participants are meds because of the high cost or because they have to go to court You do have to commit a crime being challenged, taken off their because the doctor stopped writ- or a treatment program. Is that to get into this program. It has to game, the coin reminds them that ing it. They then go to the cheap- tough, a second chance to stay be non-violent, for the most part they’ve made good decisions est form: heroin. out of prison? I tell them to think – no sexual assault or domestic before, whether it’s 30 days or a about those who lost everything, violence. You also have to be year clean and sober. They realize What do you say to people who feel prison isn’t the best even their lives, in the hurricanes. evaluated and deemed in need that if they did it then they can do They had it tough. of treatment for alcohol or drug it again now. way to treat drug offenders? dependency. highlandscurrent.com The Highlands Current September - October, 2017 7 long? And you took something The woman stands silently with without knowing its contents? Non- her lawyer as Reitz asks her a series sense. We will have to deal with of questions to determine if she this.” is aware of the seriousness of her situation. She replies to each with Rules and violations an almost inaudible “Yes.” Among the good decisions that Reitz expects from defendants “Do the math. How old will you is adherence to the court’s strict be when you get out of prison?” requirements. Participants must Reitz says. receive clinical treatment; attend “Fifty-one.” support meetings; submit to drug The judge says she missed out tests; meet with a probation officer on a second chance and criticizes or counselor; and stay in contact her attitude. The message is clearly with the court. Repeated violations intended for the other defendants. mean dismissal from the program and the restoration of all pending At the woman’s sentencing on criminal charges. Sept. 28, Reitz said the court team was divided on whether he should Trey Anastasio, the lead singer of Phish, hugs a graduate of a drug treatment court in The program has three phases. send her to prison. Reluctantly, he As a defendant moves through Fort Edward, New York, near Glen Falls. Anastasio is also a graduate of the program, said, he would defer sentencing. which he says saved his life. Photo by Steve Jacobs/AP each, he or she earns rewards. For She had one more chance. instance, mandatory court appear- ances are reduced from weekly to officers are involved — because unlike dealers, are typically not im- alternate sessions to monthly, and “We Can’t Get Our virtually everything it does is prisoned until they have been ar- drug testing becomes less fre- clandestine. But he will share why rested multiple times. He estimates quent. Regular Work Done” he believes it exists: “Our job is to 80 percent of opioid users and/or A defendant who qualifies for Dutchess, Beacon officers protect people, even if it’s from sellers who end up in jail return to drug treatment court must observe frustrated by epidemic themselves, and to have the skills using or selling after their release. to bring somebody’s kid, father two sessions before being consid- By Jeff Simms “Where are users gonna go?” ered. At one session, Reitz notices or brother back — to give them a Stelmach asks. “They’re gonna go a late arrival. he Dutchess County Drug second chance.” right back home, get a menial job Task Force consists of officers and try to get their act together.” Reitz: Sir, can I ask why you are “If we had this many deaths from a here? Tsent by departments in towns “The seller has a far different serial killer, the entire law enforcement Young man: I’m here to observe. and cities such as Beacon when task,” says Tasciotti. “He’s look- Reitz: You want to be in this pro- they can spare them. It handles community would be rallied. Instead, ing to support himself and make nearly 200 cases per year, which gram? you don’t even see obituaries.” money, and you sell what the Man: Yes. includes executing search warrants hottest commodity is.” Finding ~ Frank Tasciotti Reitz: When does court start? and undercover work. reliable work is difficult, the offi- Man: At 2:30. That’s about as much detail as cer notes, because “for legitimate Reitz: And what time is it now? you’re going to get. The opioid crisis, he says, is reasons, most businesses are not overwhelming. “If we had this many Man: It’s 3. Frank Tasciotti was one of the felon friendly.” Reitz: Then get out! Get rid of the deaths from a serial killer, the entire first officers to join the Task Force The officers are frustrated, and gum. Dress appropriately. And get law enforcement community would when it was created in 1989 in seem saddened, by the merry-go- out! be rallied,” he says. “Instead, you response to the crack cocaine don’t even see obituaries.” round of faces they encounter. But After the man departs, Reitz epidemic. He’s reluctant to reveal they make one thing clear when addresses the others. “You have much about the agency — where Vincent Stelmach, the Task discussing opioid addiction. They to be respectful,” he says. “Show- it’s headquartered, how many Force’s coordinator, says users, believe those who become addict- ing up right on time is not being ed are responsible for their own on time. Be there 15 minutes early. choices. “Their burden is some- Show respect.” thing they put on themselves,” 27 years Tasciotti says. Partway through a court session, Casual use guards bring a young prisoner When asked about drug use in through a side door from the in the Highlands, the Task Force Putnam County Jail. She is shack- officers, along with Beacon Police led at the wrists and ankles. The Chief Doug Solomon and Beacon room falls silent, in part because all Detective Jason Walden, each defendants usually arrive in street recounted similar narratives. In clothes, sometimes coming from the 1960s, injected heroin was the work. The woman stares ahead, drug of choice, followed by co- head slightly bowed. caine in the 1970s and ’80s, then Reitz is familiar with the defen- crack, Ecstasy and now opioids. It’s dant. He asks the assistant district heroin, again, but this time around attorney for an update on the case. it’s more typically snorted or Charged with, among other crimes, smoked, and it’s often laced with selling heroin, the woman has other highly potent painkillers such struggled, with 10 violations of the as fentanyl. treatment court rules. In Tasciotti’s view, the casual “What do the People recom- portrayal of illicit narcotics in popu- mend?” Reitz asks. lar culture has removed much of the stigma associated with their “We recommend that she be re- use. Once maligned as being used moved from the program,” the as- by “junkies,” narcotics became ac- sistant D.A. says, “and sentenced cepted as recreational drugs. to 27 years in state prison.” Chart by Lynn Carano 8 September - October, 2017 The Highlands Current highlandscurrent.com

“When Ecstasy came out, it was “but we can’t get our regular work mental health issues so they can amphetamine-like and psyche- done.” receive treatment rather than be delic-like — and it was dangerous arrested and jailed. Chief Solomon — but they showed people using Beacon says he hopes the training will it on TV,” he says. “It was never de- Detective Walden estimates continue to evolve to change the monized. Then you started seeing there’s at least one overdose in approach to addiction. people doing cocaine on reality Beacon each week, although most shows. Why wouldn’t it lead to the are not fatal. Law enforcement acceptance of heroin, when it can officials say Beacon is relatively "The profession has become a lot more also be snorted?” clean when compared to neighbor- sophisticated, and law enforcement ing Newburgh, or Poughkeepsie. That acceptance, he argues, is There are more users than sellers, is going to need to integrate with the what’s killing people. Recreational and they represent all races and treatment end. It’s a constant process users are mixing in powerful social classes. Walden says users of reinventing yourself. In the end, you chemicals that invade the central have told him the high is so intense nervous system, causing respira- “that you can’t explain” how it have to look out for people’s lives. You tory failure, sometimes almost feels, as if no one can resist after want these people to get help.” immediately. “Your brain actually tasting it. forgets to breathe,” Tasciotti says, ~ Chief Douglas Solomon likening the effect to suffocation Every patrol officer in the without the pillow. Beacon Police Department carries Narcan, as do the city’s full-time “Parents need to realize it can “Law enforcement is migrating Beacon Police Chief Doug Solomon firefighters. The antidote, adminis- away from the ‘warrior’ approach happen to anybody, and their kids File photo tered in a nasal spray, overpowers are not young adults,” he says. to a ‘guardian’ approach,” he ex- the opioid’s effect on the brain, ef- plains. “That’s what’s missing from “They’re older children, and they fectively “reversing” the overdose. need supervision.” pinpoint a single drug as the cause the drug piece. The profession has But as street drugs become more become a lot more sophisticated, Sometimes there isn’t time to of death, Tasciotti estimates that potent, it can take multiple bursts more than 60 people — ranging and law enforcement is going to become addicted, he notes. A to revive someone, when in the need to integrate with the treat- single dose of a synthetic opioid from their teens to their 60s — past, one was sufficient. have been killed so far this year ment end. It’s a constant process such as fentanyl can be fatal. It can Every member of the police of reinventing yourself. also be dangerous to officers who in Dutchess from heroin and/or fentanyl. This past summer, he and department has also completed “In the end, you have to look touch or inhale it, and they often or is undergoing Crisis Interven- pull on medical gloves at busts. Stelmach handled six deaths in out for people’s lives,” he says. seven days. “I’d like to be sitting tion Training to help understand “You want these people to get Although it can be difficult to behind a desk,” Stelmach says, and react to people suffering from help.”

Burlington Chief on Opioids, Crime Former Nelsonville resident embraces new approach

By Michael Turton have come forward to get their kids into treatment. Low-level n July 2015, Brandon del Pozo, dealers have cooperated because then a resident of Nelonville they know they can trust us and Iand a longtime New York City that our focus is on high-level police officer, was named the po- dealers. lice chief of Burlington, Vermont, population 42,000. In Burlington, But there are still some who he says, opioids lie just below cling to dogma — that everyone the surface of all major crimes, associated with opioids should including homicides. But he has go to prison, or that no one become a leading voice for ap- should go to prison. So both proaching the crisis as more than sides oppose what we’re doing. an issue of punishment. Do you have a drug court? How do your officers handle Yes. It does a good job of pick- addicts differently than tra- ing out people who are eligible ditional law enforcement? for treatment. Some do relapse; People on both sides of this it’s the nature of addiction. Get- issue — the “law-and-order” and ting people into treatment can be “harm-reduction” camps — have difficult. We need better coordi- been dogmatic. We look at polic- nation and more resources. There ing but also at public health. We is also little treatment in prison are committed to putting high- and that’s an obstacle. end suppliers in jail, but I also How many of your officers have a social worker in charge of carry Narcan? our opioid policy as part of our Every Burlington officer car- commitment to save lives. ries and is trained in the use of How has the community naloxone. At this stage, any police reacted? department that doesn’t do that The reaction has been positive. is living in the Stone Age, and the This is a progressive community community should not stand for it. with high expectations. Parents Brandon del Pozo Matthew Thorsen / Seven Days highlandscurrent.com The Highlands Current September - October, 2017 9

Part 3: Where Can They Go? Treatment in the Highlands ast year, more than 1,400 Garrison. people in Dutchess County There are no treatment facili- L and another 369 in Putnam ties in Beacon since the Turning were admitted to state-regulated Point detox center moved to opioid treatment programs. More Poughkeepsie after St. Francis than 80 percent were addicted to Hospital went bankrupt in 2013 heroin. and the nonprofit Lexington Cen- For Part 3 of our series, we ter for Recovery moved to Wap- wanted to learn more about what pingers Falls. options are available to addicts, Opioid addiction is typically including medication and coun- a long and bumpy road, with seling. Putnam County has three relapses and returns. Sometimes treatment centers: the for-profit the journey ends in death. But Arms Acres and the nonprofit ultimately treatment centers are CoveCare Center (formerly Put- places of hope, as doctors and nam Family & Community Ser- counselors save far more than are vices) in Carmel and the Francis- lost. can-run St. Christopher’s Inn in At the Arms Acres treatment center in Carmel, methadone is dispensed in cups and then mixed by patients with juice to mask its unpleasant taste. Photo by Anita Peltonen

Even the name of the building “We want people to feel like pay, can receive immediate care, No Wrong Doors was carefully chosen. During the they have a place that they can go comfort and referrals. Dutchess Center an innova- three years the center was under to before things hit the fan,” Alter “Addiction is a mental health tive first step to recovery development, it was sometimes says. issue and needs to be first ad- referred to as a “crisis center,” dressed as a mental-health issue,” By Brian PJ Cronin until County Executive Marc Filling the gap There’s no place in the state, says Molinaro. “And this nation Molinaro suggested a different has never dealt with mental health t’s been eight months since the approach. Its purpose, he argued, and perhaps the U.S., quite like opening of the Dutchess County the Stabilization Center, which in the compassionate and respon- is to divert people from places of sible way that we should.” IStabilization Center in Pough- crisis, such as jails and emergency never closes and at which any keepsie, and they’re finally adding rooms. Dutchess County resident, re- Over the last few years, the finishing touches. gardless of insurance or ability to Dutchess County (like many oth- “We wanted to live in the ers) has moved on several fronts space before we decorated it, to address addiction and other but it’s not going to see much mental-health issues. Every police decorating,” says Beth Alter of officer in Dutchess has received the county’s Department of Be- or will receive Crisis Interven- havioral and Community Health, tion Training to prepare them for who oversaw the project. “When encounters with addicts and the you’re in withdrawal, the last thing mentally ill. A 24-hour helpline you need to see is a lot of colors.” (845-485-9700) that has been operating for 30 years can now Every last detail has been de- be accessed by text and a phone signed for the comfort app. Its staff also can send out a of the people the staff Mobile Crisis Intervention Team, refers to as its “guests”: created in 2012, to meet with cushy reclining chairs, people in person. healthy snacks, privacy screens, a chest filled Building the center with toys and puzzles for New York state so far likes what those who might arrive it sees in Poughkeepsie. On Aug. with children. 29, its Office of Alcoholism and But there is a fine Substance Abuse Services (OA- line between com- SAS) put out a call for bids to open fort and functionality, 24/7 walk-in treatment centers in which is why the floors every region of the state, offering are smooth, cold and up to $450,000 in development gleaming, without a funding to county governments scrap of carpet to be and nonprofits. The grants will be found. “It makes it easy announced on Dec. 6. to clean up puke,” Alter At left, Beth Alter; above, the "family room" at the Dutchess County (Although the Mid-Hudson is explains matter-of-factly. Stabilization Center Photos provided among the regions where OA- 10 September - October, 2017 The Highlands Current highlandscurrent.com

SAS hopes to establish more 24/7 centers, Putnam County is unlikely to have one any time soon, says Arlene Seymour, who runs the treatment program at the nonprofit CoveCare Center. “Putnam is a hard county because it’s divided in half” and because it lacks east- west public transportation, she says. “If we have something here in Carmel, would people in Philip- The Dutchess County Stabilization Center stown be using it? They couldn’t if Photo provided they’re strung out or sick. How are they going to get here?”) there for low-level drug offenses or The Dutchess Center came out because of disturbances related to of a desire to “better address what their mental illness. When released, people actually need, instead of these inmates often ended up back trying to make people’s needs fit in jail or in the emergency room. into what we actually have,” says Instead of expanding the jail, Alter. “The number of people with police officers in the county re- mental health issues in the jail kept ceived Crisis Intervention Training climbing. The number of emergen- and Bexar partnered with the state cy-room visits in our hospitals kept to create a mental-health crisis climbing. And everywhere you go center. This allowed officers to take for help, the door always seems to low-level offenders somewhere say ‘Nope, sorry, wrong place to go.’ besides jail. Today the county jail “We started talking about a ‘no typically has 500 empty beds and Chart by Lynn Carano wrong door’ place, where anyone mental-health related E.R. visits can walk in and receive a whole ar- have fallen by 50 percent. the dimmest possible lighting and ray of services.” The Dutchess County Stabiliza- User-friendly The entrance to the center, reclining chairs amply spaced apart The center was funded by the tion Center works the same way, from one another. unanimous adoption in Decem- allowing police officers to drop off located around the corner from the ber 2015 by the Dutchess County people they encounter who they MidHudson Regional Hospital, is The center is only the first stop. Legislature of a $4.8 million bond, think would be better served by in the back of the building. Tinted For those battling addiction, the and construction began in early treatment than jail. Unlike the cen- windows provide additional priva- next one may be a referral to a 2016. The county’s partners in- ter in Texas, the Dutchess Center is cy. Alter says the only locked door long-term care facility. For those clude MidHudson Regional Hospi- voluntary. People can walk in, and is the first one, for security reasons. who are clean but fear relapsing, the peer counselor can provide tal (which has provided more than leave, on their own. Once inside, Alter says, the connections with support groups $100,000 in financial support and center staff tries to make a patient “The Stabilization Center and other community organizations. four full-time nurses, according to doesn’t present you with the op- feel welcomed, safe and comfort- the county), Mid-Hudson Addiction portunity to be absolved of crimi- able. If an addict is in withdrawal, “There are a lot of supports for Recovery Center, Astor Services for nal activity,” says Molinaro. “Our he or she is already uncomfortable young people who are working Children & Families and PEOPLe, goal is to intervene at the right enough. very hard to recover from opioid addiction,” says Alter. “It’s hard to a nonprofit that specializes in peer time to prevent criminal activity. The first person to greet a visi- imagine, because all we hear about counseling. The center was dedi- We needed to have a place where tor is a peer counselor — someone every day are the overdoses. But cated to Dr. Kenneth Glatt, who we could de-escalate a situation, who understands what the patient Visit highlandscurrent.com for news the reality is that there are services retired in 2015 after serving for 35 evaluate the individual and create is going through. The counselor updates and latest information. that can be found if you’re looking.” years as the county’s commissioner the connection to ongoing care so explains what to expect and offers of mental hygiene. that the individual gets the help he reassurance. The greeting room is It’s the looking that can be the The closest precedent to the or she needs.” small and ringed with lockers for problem, especially to those suf- Dutchess Center is in San Antonio, In the process, “we’re diverting visitors to park their belongings. fering from withdrawal or mental illness. where in 2002 the overcrowded that person from a more expen- The next area contains bath- Bexar County Jail needed another sive, less effective tool, which rooms, showers and a laundry The bottom line 1,000 beds. Local health officials would be jail or the emergency room. An initial consultation is observed that many inmates were Since it opened in February, the room.” performed, including a medical center has welcomed more than evaluation. The center is technically 1,000 guests. As of mid-August, a non-medical, urgent-care facil- 139 were brought by law enforce- ity — its staff does not give shots, ment, and the remainder came un- so anyone in need of immediate der their own volition. Some were medical assistance is redirected to suffering from withdrawal, and a hospital. some were feeling uncomfortable Visitors do not stay long. They in their own skin. Some were high. are asked for the names of their Some were dealing with mental- “circle of support.” There are no health issues for the first time, Alter beds. Legally, no one can remain says, or didn’t like the way a new for more than 24 hours, although medication was making them feel the average stay is under four and wanted to be observed. Some hours, Alter says. During their time came to escape domestic abuse. at the center, visitors have four dif- Veterans suffering from PTSD ferent communal rooms to choose walked through the door. Teenag- from, depending on their condi- ers arrived who have been sent by tion, from the living room-esque Family Court. Family Room with its kitchenette and warm lighting to the Sober- “Sometimes people just come ing Room, which has nothing but in because they’re frustrated and highlandscurrent.com The Highlands Current September - October, 2017 11 they don’t know what to do,” says Rowe, who is also a neurologist Alter. and addiction psychiatrist. The What Does It Cost? The center can assist up to 40 new outpatient center has 200 he cost of opioid treatment varies a great deal; treatment cen- people within each 24-hour period slots, of which 15 were taken as ters we visited were reluctant to give precise numbers, saying and currently is seeing 12 to 15, of late August. The center hopes they provide sliding scales depending on insurance reimburse- someday to treat hundreds more. T Alter says. She says she expects ment and the ability of a patient to pay. those numbers to rise because Many patients arrive at the However, cost estimates prepared by the federal government in those who need help “want to see center “anxious, angry, difficult, 2016 found that methadone treatment, including medication with if they can trust us. But this is one obnoxious,” Witte says. “After we daily counseling, costs about $6,500 per year; Suboxone treatment of those situations where if you help them withdraw, their person- with twice-weekly visits is $6,000 per year; and naltrexone treatment build it, they will come. And they’re ality emerges and then you some- is $14,000 per year. coming.” times have this lovely person who is interested in recovering, as well By comparison, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research as helpful to others. It is a transfor- and Quality, annual expenditures for patients with diabetes are Hidden in Plain Sight mation that is truly magical.” $3,600 and for those with kidney disease, $5,600. Arms Acres splits services to A study that appeared in the Journal of Substance Abuse Treat- two locations Withdrawal is tough mental and physical work. A patient’s health ment in 2008 used data collected from 110 substance abuse treat- By Anita Peltonen may be compromised after years ment programs to provide more detail. The costs below, in 2017 of neglect, including their dental dollars, are based on the average number of weeks the treatment rms Acres’ new opiate out- health, says Rowe. Those addicted lasted, shown in parentheses. patient treatment center is in to painkillers after injuries often have a low-slung former Comcast Screening and brief intervention: $494 A to endure physical therapy, too. The Methadone maintenance: $8,996 (87) office on Old Route 6 in Carmel. It doctors, nurses, social workers and opened June 30, but unless you’re Non-methadone outpatient: $2,823 (18) case workers at Arms Acres meet Intensive outpatient: $5,186 (12) looking for it, the facility is easy to twice a week to discuss each patient miss. Adolescent outpatient: $3,587 (12) and his or her progress. Drug court: $4,786 (46) Once part of the inpatient/ “Part of our intake is making sure Adult residential: $12,419 (13) outpatient rehab center on Semi- all patients have a primary-care Adolescent residential: $12,919 (8) nary Hill in rural Carmel, the Old physician” for follow-up, he says. Halfway house: $25,989 (33) Route 6 center is the first stand- alone methadone clinic in Putnam Even after they get clean, Rowe County. says, patients must re-enter the community, either directly or Psychiatrist Timothy Rowe and through a halfway house, and find his colleagues decide which of the a job despite the gaps in their “three pillars” of treatment — meth- work history, or a lack of one. adone (a liquid), Suboxone (a film (Many are young adults or veter- placed in the mouth), or Vivitrol (a ans.) And their friends and relatives shot) — patients will receive, based may still be using. on their medical histories. To qualify for Vivitrol, for example, a patient In addition to counseling and must be clean for 10 days. classes at the inpatient center, Rowe recommends patients find a Many patients rebuild their lives peer group that is not focused on with substitute opiates such as recovery from addiction, such as methadone, Rowe says. “And most volunteering or sports. the center, says patients who have “Sometimes patients have people aren’t going to bother to recovered are a great source of seizures,” explains Patrice Wallace- abuse [Suboxone] because it is not It’s also important to resolve hope when they visit. “It’s very Moore, the clinic’s CEO, whom that rewarding,” he says. relationship or legal problems. rewarding to see that, to see they I met in her office near the front “The focus is on having them try to live productive lives.” door. Rowe says he is hopeful about change their lives so that there are Vivitrol, because it isn’t potentially no obstacles on the way to recov- Witte says one goal of the Wallace-Moore came to the 54- addictive like substitute opiates ery,” he says. outpatient clinic is to help patients acre center, which was founded in and only needs to be injected address emotional trauma that 1982 by painter and philanthropist every 28 days. Other non-opioid Tammy Bender, a counselor at might contribute to their addiction, Winifred Arms, after working with addiction drugs are in the such as from abuse or neglect. addicted adolescents at Hollis- pipeline but may not be avail- Rowe can prescribe psychiatric wood Hospital in Queens. She is able for years. But if successful, medication to alleviate the im- passionate about everything Arms they could be blockbusters. mediate effect of post-traumatic Acres, foremost her social workers’ One, under development stress disorder (PTSD), depression skill at helping patients reconnect at the Scripps Research Insti- and anxiety. to the world before their insurance tute, uses the immune system’s Rowe sees addicts as young runs out. virus-rejection mechanisms to as 14 but says most patients are Most insurance companies will fight opioids as foreign bod- adults and those under 18 cannot pay for three days’ inpatient care ies. Another, the brainchild of receive methadone from the out- initially, or up to 14 total, she says. researchers at the Walter Reed patient clinic. “We have an ado- Before managed care, “we used to Army Institute of Research, lescent program, but we have not have longer stays, about 28 days. prevents heroin from reaching been getting very many referrals to So we had fewer admits but longer the brain and also may protect it,” he says. stays.” The insurers’ argument, she against HIV infection. says, was that withdrawal was not Residential patients Getting there medically necessary because ad- As I pull up the long drive of diction is not always lethal. Patients come to Arms Arms Acres’ inpatient clinic in rural Acres from a hospital or other Carmel, an ambulance comes Wallace-Moore credits Drug detox centers, explains Steve screaming out, scattering patients Crisis in Our Backyard, a grass- Witte, clinical director of the roots organization founded in Patrice Wallace-Moore, the CEO of Arms Acres and alarming the horses in a small outpatient facility. When they Mahopac in 2012, with helping to Photo by A. Peltonen corral. arrive, they are examined by change the local landscape. (The 12 September - October, 2017 The Highlands Current highlandscurrent.com

space” for addicts, Seymour man- me,” she says. “I’ve been doing this ages the clinic and treatment pro- for so long, I just don’t trust what grams. She also oversees outreach someone who’s addicted says.” to schools, including Haldane in That goes for those who Cold Spring. She began her career seemed to be on the right path as an intern at St. Christopher’s but relapse. “You can kind of tell Inn in Garrison and, before join- when people are using again, ing CoveCare, worked for years at when they’re telling you little sto- the Lexington Recovery Center in ries,” she says. “They lie to them- Beacon, which has since relocated selves. It’s the shame that keeps to Wappingers Falls. the lying going.” Based in Carmel, CoveCare’s By contrast, those who are medical staff provides counseling able to stay off drugs “usually are and medications to addicts, includ- pretty honest,” she adds. “Life ing inmates at the Putnam County has changed. They don’t have that jail. Established in 1997 as Putnam shame.” Family & Community Services, the nonprofit changed its name this The age of addiction year in part because of a misper- While young people typically ception it was a county agency, overdose on heroin, patients age Seymour says. 50 and older are taking pills. Last year CoveCare served 241 Lately, Seymour says, she’s been patients in its substance-abuse seeing more patients in their 60s programs, plus another 178 in a re- — enough that CoveCare runs free habilitation program for those with “senior” programs for clients in drug or alcohol problems or serious middle age or older. mental-health issues, or both. For older clients, the risk of ad- The rise of opioids diction or overdose is enhanced, she says, because the body be- Over the last 20 years, Seymour comes more “finely tuned” as it says, opioids have taken over, and ages and because people tend to group was created by Susan and cocaine use has diminished but not take more medication. Combined, Steve Salamone and Lou and Carol disappeared. Two patients tested drugs “can have a synergistic ef- Christiansen, who lost sons to positive for cocaine in a single fect — the effect of two are great- overdoses.) A federal law passed in week in August, she says. er than the effect of either one 2008 and the Affordable Care Act Alcohol abuse continues but alone.” For that reason, doctors passed in 2010 mandate coverage nicotine addiction has decreased “need to be more sensitive to what for addiction treatment. significantly, she says, following prescriptions are doing” with older Many of the inpatient clients are years of public campaigns against patients. military veterans, as is Angel Dun- smoking. At the same time, she For a young person suffering can, the clinical director. A good says, attitudes about smoking from addiction, “families are the number become addicted after marijuana have become more le- key to helping them get better,” receiving painkillers for battlefield nient. The problem is, the weed on Seymour says, but finding resi- injuries, and many suffer from the street is far more potent than dential treatment for adolescents PTSD. what was available in the 1960s, can be difficult. “There aren’t that she says, both in strength and what many facilities that are good” and The goal of the staff is to get might be added to it. although insurance coverage has Still, opioid abuse claims most gotten better, long-term care can addicts “to the next level of care, of the public’s attention, as the toll still be an economic hardship. for example, outpatient clinics.” of victims climbs. Seymour, who Seymour said her youngest attended an Aug. 31 candlelight client was 13; state regulations pre- vigil in Cold Spring to remember vent outpatient centers like Cove When Wallace-Moore arrived at those who have overdosed, noted Arms Acres in 1998, the facility had “it’s mostly boys” who die, per- 129 beds. Since the opioid crisis Angel Duncan, clinical director of the haps because they are more likely has intensified, the center has ex- inpatient facility at Arms Acres to engage in risky behavior. Photo by A. Peltonen panded to 183 beds, including 131 The rate of brain development for rehab, 21 for adolescents and may also play a role. “In your 20s, 31 for detox. Typically, 95 percent Ending the Lies you go through a stage when you are full. actually understand what a conse- Treatment center works to quence is, a cause and effect, and The goal of the staff, Wallace- end deceit, encourage hope Moore says, is to get addicts “to your brain matures to accept that,” the next level of care, for example, By Liz Schevtchuk Armstrong she says. “Boys mature later than outpatient clinics.” girls, so that could have something he pervasive grip of opi- to do with this.” In the late 1990s, about a quar- ates comes as no surprise to ter of patients would leave the Arlene Seymour. In more than In addition, alcohol and mari- clinic against the advice of doc- T juana use can slow brain develop- two decades as a counselor, she tors. Today that figure is below 15 has confronted drug abuse, the ment in young people, she says. “A percent. In addition, 60 percent shame attached to it and the lying young addict will think, ‘I can use of patients keep their first medi- the shame produces. one more time; it’s not going to cal appointment made outside the happen to me,’ ” Seymour says. clinic, up from as low as 15 per- But she also knows the grip can be broken. The longtime counselor says one cent, Wallace-Moore said. “We’d consistent characteristic of addicts like 75 percent.” At the CoveCare Center, which is deceit. “I expect people to lie to Arlene Seymour Photo by L.S. Armstrong is designed to provide a “safe highlandscurrent.com The Highlands Current September - October, 2017 13

That sums up the mis- sion of the Inn, run by the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement. The waiting list is long for its 183 beds. Once admitted, patients can stay for several months, not just the four weeks of the typical recov- ery center. Among those who have benefited from treatment at St. Christopher’s is Brian Tobias, 27, who wrestled with addiction for more than a decade before leav- ing St. Christopher’s clean A new sign is unveiled in July Photo provided in 2016. Tobias became hooked Care from treating anyone younger at age 16 on the opioid than that. But its staff does reach painkillers he was given after ap- Brian Tobias Photo by A. Peltonen out to students. As part of its pendectomy surgery at Putnam schools program, Seymour and Hospital Center. When his prescrip- tion ran out, he bought pills from other counselors talk to children more about wanting to figure out classmates at Carmel High School or and CEO of the facility. “So many as young as kindergarten and first things with my family and girlfriend in his neighborhood. When the pills have been on the street.” grade. more than I wanted to use drugs.” became too expensive, he began Early addiction “We tell them it’s about mak- shooting heroin. His employer, New York City A current resident of St. Christo- ing good choices, and feeling In 2014 Tobias was arrested for Parks and Recreation, paid for his pher’s, Scott (the facility asks that empowered and not feeling bul- breaking into a neighbor’s house treatment at Seafield, and he still the last names of patients not be lied, and being able to say ‘no’ if to look for drugs or the money has his job. In April he was promot- revealed), said he believes psy- you really mean ‘no’ and picking to buy them. He was busted in a ed. He used to cut grass; now he chological abuse by his parents, your friends” wisely, she says. “It’s Wendy’s parking lot 12 hours later, fixes and maintains park structures and the psychotropic attention- about behaviors” early in life, “be- on a tip from his parents, but says and equipment. deficit drugs they gave him, set the cause behaviors clearly influence he had no memory of what he No religious test stage for his addiction. your choices later on.” had done. He fought the charges St. Christopher’s was started in “I knew by age 4 that they for months, ending up in Putnam 1909 to help men who were doing couldn’t accept me for who I was,” he County Drug Treatment Court. He the crippling work of building the says. “They started me on Dexedrine Body and Soul received treatment at Seafield in Croton Aqueduct. It evolved into when I was 4, Ritalin at 5.” The pills St. Christopher’s Inn provides Westhampton and Arms Acres in a homeless shelter with an outpa- kept coming through his young adult Carmel, and, finally — after several gentle, but strict, treatment tient addiction treatment center. years, until he turned to heroin. plan relapses — at St. Christopher’s. Set amid evergreens on a steep “The fact that I was medicated When he entered St. Christo- By Anita Peltonen slope, the Inn looks more like a all my life played into my low self- pher’s, the cravings for opioids postwar hotel than a detox center. esteem,” Scott says. “The thought ou can’t just detoxify the were still there. “But over time they that my parents can’t even toler- body; the soul needs started to dissipate,” says Tobias, There is no religious test for ate me while I’m normal, how was “Yhealing time, too,” says who received Vivitrol, an anti- admission. The facility is, however, anyone else going to like me?” David Gerber, director of coun- addiction treatment that involves a run by believers and offers an op- Charged with two felonies, includ- seling and shelter services at St. shot every 28 days. tional daily Catholic Mass in addi- tion to prayer sessions. ing driving while impaired by heroin, Christopher’s Inn in Garrison. Tobias now lives in an apartment he has twice been sent to St. Chris- “Then there’s the reconnection to with his girlfriend in his parents’ Tobias says “religion wasn’t re- topher’s. He says he is no longer on skill-building, friends and family, Carmel home. While at St. Christo- ally a factor [for him during treat- any medication, legal or illegal, de- and a life that feels useful.” pher’s, he says, “I started to think ment]. But you still had to go to spite being diagnosed with anxiety, meditation daily, a part of the day depression and other ailments. where you had to sit by yourself and think. That kind of opened me “I’ve never been a fan of orga- up to new possibilities.” nized religion,” says Scott, who was raised by Methodists. “But St. Christopher’s staff includes they talk about spirituality here two doctors, four nurses and a as being more connectedness to number of laypeople, friars and a people, nature, not that old man in nun who provide counseling. sky with a beard.” The Inn may offer both the gen- Drobach says the center once tlest and strictest treatment center dealt mostly with alcoholics, but an addict will ever experience. most of its patients now are strug- Cell phones are banned to reduce gling with opioids. In 2009, 18 the temptation to arrange a drug percent of patients admitted were drop. Disrespect or failure to work addicted primarily to heroin; in cooperatively will be given extra 2016, the number was 46 percent. community service such as working Of many factors the staff cite for in the kitchen. But the men’s days the rise of opiate abuse, Gerber are full of activity. Each is assigned points to a time when “pharmaceu- an “activity,” or chore. Steve Witte and Dr. Timothy Rowe at Arms Acres. Rowe also sees patients at St. tical companies went around say- And, “they eat a lot,” says ing we are undermedicating pain. Christopher's Inn. Photo by A. Peltonen Father Bill Drobach, the president So came the era of dentists with 14 September - October, 2017 The Highlands Current highlandscurrent.com patients having dental surgery and “We have a dunk tank so that they getting 120 Percocets.” can get even with us” for bossing And while New York state in 2013 them around, he says. began closely monitoring opioid “They might act arrogant, but ad- prescriptions, that sent the cost of dicts usually have low self-esteem,” pills on the street sky high, he says. says Gerber. “The lifestyle of the “Meanwhile, we have Afghanistan addict becomes an ever-shrinking and Mexico providing cheap heroin.” world. As addiction increases, the Another St. Christopher’s patient, sense of connection to healthy Frank, 52, has been battling alco- people and places diminishes.” holism most of his life. One day he “The men are amazed that we snorted heroin, he recalls, and the remember their names,” he says. next day was shooting up. He even- “We’ve been called to heal wounds, tually lost his flooring business. unite what has fallen apart, and Frank says he realizes he can bring home what has gone away.” never return to his hometown of Still, says Dr. Steven Shapiro, the Ellenville because he knows people lead physician at the clinic, “there will start calling him, pushing drugs. are no miracles here. I am a strong At the Inn, he became an aco- believer in medication-assisted lyte and a member of the choir. He "I've been in four other rehabs," says Frank, a patient at St. Christopher's. recovery. The men must still take attended every Alcoholics Anony- Photo by A. Peltonen counseling and AA or NA or other mous and Narcotics Anonymous modalities to treat the thinking brain. meeting offered. “One of my first duties or jobs Florida. “Any man who is about to The combination works very well.” here was to clean the mirrors and the separate from us, we give him a For Brian Tobias, his stay at St. “I love this place,” says Frank, sinks every day,” he recalls. “I got to suit — he looks like a Wall Street who arrived in March. “I’ve been Christopher’s came full circle. One look in the mirror every day, and it lawyer when he goes out the of the police officers who arrested in four other rehabs. This is the helped me to see myself, literally.” door,” says Drobach. only one where I feel I am get- him for burglary was at St. Chris- ting real treatment. Security guys, The follow-up Drobach notes with pride that topher’s for an event, directing the nurses — I love everyone.” He After patients leave St. Chris- St. Christopher’s holds an annual traffic. He remembered the bust, even quips about becoming a friar. topher’s, they typically relocate picnic for alumni, and this past Tobias said, and “he said he was to halfway houses in New York or August more than 500 showed up. glad I was getting well." Where to Find Help Hotlines Provider Directory Paying for Treatment oasas.ny.gov/providerdirectory 24-7 Drug Abuse Helpline NYS Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse 877-846-7369 or text 467369 Substance Abuse and Mental Health Ser- Services Administration (SAMSHA) combatheroin.ny.gov/get- Partnership for Drug-Free Kids vices 855-378-4373 (Weekdays 9 a.m. – 5 p.m.) 800-662-4357 | findtreatment.samhsa.gov help#payfortreatment 24-Hour Crisis Counseling (Dutchess) Overdose Prevention Training Understanding Your Rights for Treatment 845-485-9700 (call or text) St. Christopher’s Inn, Garrison and Insurance Coverage Contact Rob Casasanta at 845-335-1035 or oasas.ny.gov/publications/pdf/Rights for SUD Treatment Centers [email protected] Insurance Brochure.pdf Arms Acres, Carmel Intervention Services armsacres.com Arms Acres, Carmel 845-225-5202 (out-patient) Contact Tammy Bender at 845-704-6198 or David Gerber | 845-335-1101 845-225-3400 (in-patient) [email protected] Ray Dorritie | 914-473-4735 Dutchess County Health Department Education/Prevention CoveCare Center, Carmel 845-486-3500 | [email protected] covecarecenter.org Philipstown Communities That Care 845-225-2700 (out-patient) Counselors philipstownctc.org Dutchess County Stabilization Center Lillian Rosengarten, LCSW Council on Addiction Prevention & Educa- 230 North Road, Poughkeepsie 845-265-2856 | [email protected] tion of Dutchess County 845-485-9700 | Open 24-7 for walk-ins Pharmacies that dispense naloxone 845-765-8301 | capedc.org Lexington Center for Recovery, without a prescription NYS Office of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Wappingers Falls Drug World, Cold Spring Services lexingtonctr.org | 845-765-2366 Rite Aid, Beacon combatheroin.ny.gov Onward Recovery, Newburgh CVS Pharmacy, Fishkill National Institute on Drug Abuse onwardrecovery.org Support Groups drugabuse.gov 845-725-1244 (out-patient) Spotlight Family Support Group Prevention Council of Putnam St. Christopher’s Inn, Garrison Call 914-582-8384 for information. 845-225-4646 | putnamncadd.org stchristophersinn-graymoor.org Mahopac, Hopewell Junction, Yorktown Partnership for Drug-Free Kids 845-335-1020 (out-patient, adult men) Friends of Recovery Putnam, Carmel drugfree.org Walter Hoving Home, Garrison 845-225-4646 | facebook.com/forputnam walterhovinghome.org Prescription Opioid Drop Boxes 845-424-3674 (faith-based, adult women) Narcotics Anonymous (Mid-Hudson) Beacon Police Department 845-431-9011 (Dutchess) Philipstown Town Hall Treatment Directories 888-399-5519 (Regional) For more resources, see Philipstown Commu- Doctors Who Prescribe Suboxone newyorkna.org/meetings/meeting-search nities That Care (philipstownctc.org) and Drug suboxone.com NA meets in Beacon at the Reformed Church Crisis in Our Backyard (drugcrisisinourback- and St. Andrew’s. Bed Availability / Out-patient Treatment yard.org). findaddictiontreatment.ny.gov highlandscurrent.com The Highlands Current September - October, 2017 15

Part 4: The Ways Out: 'Where There is Life, There is Hope'

e know there’s an opioid David Poses, 41, has lived in abuse problem. What Cold Spring since 2005. Wcan be done about it? Unless you’ve experienced ad- That is the question we began diction first-hand, it doesn’t make with. The crisis is complex, but sense. No junkie wants to be a many smart people are looking junkie, but there’s a terrifying for ways out. chasm between “will” and “way”: This has been a difficult series a hopelessness. In that regard, to assemble. It is built on the pain addiction is a disease, a terminal of those who have witnessed one. It is infectious and conta- the destruction up close, and of gious, and no amount of guilt/ those left behind with questions shame/blame/denial/prayer will but few answers. Journalists often make it go away. must report on people in pain I started using heroin at age and are not unaffected by it. But 16. I was in pain. Heroin didn’t we also found plenty of good make me happy, but it sure as hell news, as new medicines arrive made me forget how miserable and as people and politicians Members of Philipstown Communities That Care gather to discuss strategies to I was. That’s what it does. It kills awake to the suffering and money fight the drug abuse crisis. Photo by Ross Corsair pain — and so much more. begins to flow. At 19, I went through the con- As Susan Salomone of Drug series of public hearings, it made ronment where addicts can go ventional recovery process (rehab, Crisis in Our Backyard, who lost her 25 recommendations, including through withdrawal. But after halfway house, support groups). son Justin to an overdose in 2012, mandating addiction training for completing detox, individuals are Though I don’t begrudge the says: “Where there is life, there is healthcare professionals; limiting thrown back into their communi- potency and potential of any of hope.” first-time opioid prescriptions for ties and social networks where these programs, none worked for Every week and month and acute pain from a 30-day sup- their addiction was formed. They me. I spent the next decade lying year brings progress. On Sept. 25, ply to seven; expanding access are expected to avoid opioids to my friends and family, telling for example, the state Office of to painkillers that are difficult to while engaged in the environ- them I was clean. Even after long Alcoholism and Substance Abuse crush or dissolve; and eliminat- ment that prompted their use. stretches of sobriety, I kept go- Services (OASAS) opened the ing the need for a patient to have ing back because the hole in my A more successful approach heart still needed to be filled. Onward Recovery Community and prior authorization from an insurer is to engage individuals within Outreach Center in Newburgh, for long-term, in-patient treat- the context of their home com- Whatever pain heroin kills, it which provides free support and ment. munities but keep them en- saves all that shit up and throws it services for addicts in treatment, We asked a number of people gaged in treatment through back at you when you stop using. as well as their families. It was for their ideas on what should controlled “home detox.” While I understand how some funded for five years with $1.75 take priority in this fight and were This eliminates the requirement people might not be sympa- million in state grants — your overwhelmed with the responses. that they isolate themselves from thetic to a junkie in withdrawal, money, well spent. Among other Thank you to the counselors, their natural environment and the agony is no less real. The initiatives, Gov. Andrew Cuomo doctors, parents and law-enforce- networks. This approach des- word craving is often misused to has proposed two pilot recovery ment officials who spoke with us tigmatizes treatment and may describe what a recovering addict high schools for students dealing over the past few months — and even prompt others to seek help, experiences. Craving is what you with substance abuse. a special thanks to those who as well. feel on a hot summer day when The most effective treatment so shared their personal experiences you’re in line at Moo Moo’s. With far appears to be a combination fighting this demon. dope, it’s more need than want, of behavioral therapy and medi- Always fighting. like a bodily urge. It’s an emer- gency, a feeling like you’re going cal intervention with drugs such as Lena Petersen, of Suboxone, which one study found to suffocate if you don’t get dope Cold Spring, is a in your system right now. could at least double a person’s nurse who treats chances of staying clean for 18 homeless and jailed If I had to pick one area to pri- months. At the same time, studies addicts in New York oritize in the opioid crisis, it’d be have found that only 10 percent of City. to treat the problem on an indi- addicts receive specialized treat- vidual level at every stage — from ment, and four in 10 never seek Most in-patient, the preventative messages we help. traditional drug treat- teach our children, to the recov- ment programs are a There is a plan. Last year, ery options we consider when an fast, sometimes sloppy addict is ready to get help, to the Cuomo assembled a 23-member approach to detox. Heroin and Opioid Task Force resources we provide to parents, They provide a rela- families and spouses. In this day that included Salomone, Patrice tively controlled envi- Lena Petersen Photo by Anita Peltonen Wallace-Moore of Arms Acre in and age, where every cup of Carmel and state Sen. Terrence coffee at Starbucks is custom- Murphy, whose district includes For a video by Gregory Gunder that accompanies this tailored, it makes sense to have eastern Putnam County. After a series, see highlandscurrent.com/opioid-crisis-video. an individualized approach to 16 September - October, 2017 The Highlands Current highlandscurrent.com addiction. the number of doctors who can Kids often know more about common reason children begin Everyone in my life missed prescribe Suboxone, and it limits what other kids are doing than experimenting with drugs. Teach every red flag because there are the number of patients they can the parents, especially at a small your child it is OK to cry, as well as no universal warning signs. A treat. Because of these restric- school like Haldane. You’re togeth- to express anger and fear. Do not self-medicating addict like me will tions, there is a black market for er five days a week. Everybody say, “Don’t cry, you are a big boy behave differently than an “escape the drug. We need to eliminate knows everybody. or girl, boys don’t cry, crybaby,” artist” user. Because the allure of the barriers to access, and addicts It’s important to look after each etc. Don’t shut the child down or dope varies from person to per- would learn firsthand that it won’t other. To help them. To have their punish for self-expression. This son, no template for recovery is get you high. back. Many of the friends I hung humiliates the child, who will lie, going to work for everyone. Many A tremendous amount of inertia out with in high school died. hide or shut down emotions as he addicts would have a much bet- must be overcome for an addict to or she learns to be “compliant” ter chance at recovery if treated take the first step toward recovery. and “good” to please the parent. as an individual, especially during In addition to the stigma of addic- Just listening is a powerful tool the most vulnerable time, which is tion, every addict has to contend to cultivate to accept your child’s withdrawal and the stages immedi- with feelings of guilt and shame. experience and emotions as they ately following. If someone is making the effort may arise. If discussion is possible As a country, we’re in a reactive to get clean, a safe, supportive, (but never pushed) do so without stance. We’re scared and we’re understanding family is going to criticism or judgment. When par- angry and we want solutions, but yield better results than telling the ents can access their own emotions we don’t know where to start. addict how disappointed you are. (not as criticism or punishment) this We’re warming up to the idea that Everything above contributed to can bring closeness and honesty to incarcerating addicts doesn’t deal my recovery and continues to be the relationship. with the underlying problem, but vital in my ongoing effort to stay The anti-drug message needs to we fear that treating addiction as a clean. Today, my life is beyond any- be an ongoing conversation. Share disease takes the onus off the user. thing I could have imagined when with your child your own drug Public perception has changed. I was on dope. I’m married to the experience or that of someone When I first started using, heroin most amazing woman in the world. close to your family. When there was considered taboo and a major We have two children whom I love is addiction in the family, a child leap from “gateway” drugs. Oxy- in ways I never knew existed until can feel he or she is at fault for the contin didn’t exist. As opioid pain I became a parent. I have a suc- parent’s erratic moods. To be in a pills became more mainstream, cessful career. I’m happy; fulfilled. support group such as Alcoholics casual users came to understand Mindful. Grateful. Not the kind of Anonymous is an accomplishment, that heroin is to Vicodin as beer is person you’d look at and imagine as is sobriety. What is important is to whiskey — that is, branding and as a junkie. But I’ve been to hell for the child to know the parent is potency are the variables. and back. I’m not saying I’m right coming from a genuine place. Lillian Rosengarten Photo by Sheila Williams and anyone who disagrees with me Stay calm and non-critical. This Unlike alcohol, however, which is wrong. I’m saying this needs to is legal and regulated, you never lets your children know you are be a conversation, not a template. Lillian Rosengarten, of Cold on their side and that you love know what you’re getting when Spring, is a licensed clinical so- you buy an illegal drug. You’re them. Preaching does not work, cial worker. Her son, Phil, died nor do threats. The parent’s role is never going to buy a can of beer of an overdose in 1996. with 4.2 percent alcohol content to educate and keep communica- printed on the label and get grain I know all too well no family is tion open. Speak to your child with alcohol. With heroin, there’s no exempt from addiction and the respect, do not undermine, and lis- consistency, and no quality assur- possibility of overdose and death, ten well. No matter how the com- ance. What barely got you high no matter how intact, how loving, munication goes and the lessons yesterday can kill you today. And how open or closed the communi- to be learned, eventually it is the you have no way of knowing. That cation, how angry or dysfunctional, child who makes his or her decision kind of information would be help- how wealthy or poor. I want to ab- on whether to use. There is no way ful to a curious kid who hears “Just solve all parents of guilt that they to shield your child from the reali- say no” and asks, “But why?” may be responsible for their child’s ties of drug use and abuse. addiction and/or death. If we truly want addicts to get All children need room in the well, our laws must reflect that Phil, my first-born, had a long parent-child relationship to learn to desire and we must make more history of drug addiction that express themselves without criti- resources available. began at age 15. Although able cism and to feel safe doing so. In to achieve 10 years of sobriety, this way children learn to feel good In my experience, Suboxone he overdosed at age 36. My own about themselves and hopefully was a lifesaver. I was lucky. Many Rebecca Darman Photo by Michael Turton parenting had lacked consistence make healthy choices. addicts are unaware it exists. Many and good communication. I felt who do know don’t have access helpless at the time to know what Susan Salomone is the co- to it. A partial opiate antagonist, Rebecca Darman, 24, of Cold to do. Pleading and anger were of executive director with her Suboxone comes in form of a film Spring, has lost eight friends no use. Enabling was destructive. husband, Steve, of Drug Crisis you place on your tongue. The to overdoses. in Our Backyard, a nonprofit Many years later I learned how drug “sits” on your opiate recep- When I was in high school, Per- based in Mahopac. They co- tors, tricking your brain into believ- open communication between par- founded it in 2012 after their cocet was just becoming a thing at ent and child can nurture a healthy ing it has a steady supply of dope. parties. I don’t think people real- son Justin, 29, died of a hero- You’re not high, but you’re not sense of self and a capacity for the in overdose. ized how addictive it is, how close child to express themselves with needing heroin, either. to heroin it is. It starts out as a fun When Justin was 23, we found open directness and to say “No” out from his girlfriend that he had Under federal law, Suboxone thing and they get sucked into it. without fear. (buprenorphine) is a Schedule III started using prescription pain kill- I just didn’t know what to do It is never too early to begin ers, specifically Percocet. I remem- controlled substance with high about it. abuse potential. But it can’t be to talk to your child about how ber her email telling us that she abused. (I tried.) Suboxone has a Sometimes tough love is a good drugs harm and kill. Parents need was breaking up with him because ceiling. It also contains naloxone, thing. You have to be willing to call to be honest, open and talk about he was making poor life choices which blocks opioids entirely. out your friends. I never thought it their own feelings and emotions. and using Perks. I had to call her to was my place. I should have. Talk about depression. Mood find out what that was. The federal government limits disorders and depression are a highlandscurrent.com The Highlands Current September - October, 2017 17

So now I know the truth. As long the time to develop coping skills, as there is life, there is hope. It is and giving their brains time to get important to believe that an addict past biological urges and cravings. can die and once he or she is gone The standard 14 days covered by there is no going back and trying insurance does not adequately ad- again. dress the need. The priority now is to bring Our most recent approach has awareness of the dangers and been to detoxify, re-medicate the rampant use of opioids. Denial is problem with drugs like metha- a huge factor and people need done and Suboxone and attempt to realize that the earlier an inter- to engage in an out-patient set- vention is made, the better the ting. Addiction takes over lives. chances of a person not getting It requires rehabilitation, not a into trouble. bandage. The stigma associated with ad- The best approach for many is diction keeps families and those detox and residential treatment, who are struggling from asking for followed by a halfway house or sup- help. We also need to reduce bar- portive living in conjunction with riers to treatment and increase pre- out-patient treatment. We’ve been Lisa Scicluna speaks at the vigil in Cold Spring on Aug. 31. Photo by Ross Corsair vention education in our schools. By penny-wise and dollar foolish by lim- bringing awareness of addiction as a iting and reducing access to care. disease, and focusing on this issue in Before he died, we learned any drug, including alcohol and our community, we reduce stigma. Stacey Farley, of Garrison, many things about addiction. We marijuana, leads to higher rates of is a ceramic artist and mem- learned that addicted children lie addiction. We learned that there is David Gerber is the director ber of the Highlands Current right to your face, but we don’t a family disposition for the disease, of counseling and shelter ser- Inc. board of directors. She acknowledge it because they are as there is with diabetes and heart vices at St. Christopher’s Inn first proposed a drug czar at our children. We learned that the disease. If you have a family mem- in Garrison. the Sept. 24 meeting of the pusher is not some scraggly old ber who is addicted, no matter We have laws that require Philipstown Community Con- man in a dark alley but more likely how distant, the chances increase. people who receive a DWI to, at gress. your kid’s friend or a classmate. We Educate your children on this im- the very least, get a chemical de- In our local government we have learned that the junkie you envi- portant health hazard. pendency assessment. We need a highways and building depart- sioned living on the streets in New We learned that people suffer in common-sense law that says if your ments. We have planning boards, York City in a cardboard box was silence because of the stigma as- use is so severe that you require zoning and conservation boards. now living in your house. sociated with addiction and mental your life to be saved by a first We have dog control. Doesn’t it We learned the pain that goes illness. People think that they are responder after an overdose, you make sense to have someone in with being addicted to painkillers, the only ones when, in reality, two are required to attend in-patient charge of the important and perva- the withdrawal the addict suffers, out of three families are suffering treatment. sive issue of drug abuse? the anxiety and guilt that our child with this disease. We learned that This could reduce the number Whether you call the position suffered. We learned that nothing Americans consume close to 90 of people who require emergency drug czar, commissioner or direc- we could do would cure or control percent of the painkillers manufac- services through multiple over- tor of prevention and treatment, Justin. tured in the world. That 23 mil- doses, and reduce the number of let’s put our best resources behind We also have learned so much lion people need treatment and people who rely on Narcan as a this problem and create a full-time, in the five years since his death. only 10 percent get it. That many “get-out-of-overdose-free” card. paid position. This person would insurances will only cover 14 days It would provide helpless fami- be responsible for focusing full We learned that continued at- of treatment; no wonder this is a lies with relief and peace of mind attention on the crisis, support- tempts at recovery raise the chanc- revolving door with people com- knowing that help is available. ing existing resources, mobilizing es of success. Once is not enough ing out of treatment and relapsing appropriate medical and rehab and sometimes 10 times is not The lengths of stay for such within hours. With opioids, months support, and educating and com- enough, but the important thing is treatment should be long enough and years are needed in learning municating with families, individu- to keep trying. Remaining hopeful to ensure that we are not merely how to live without the drugs and als, schools and the community, under the most distressing circum- deal with the cravings. detoxing people, but giving them stances is difficult but important. We have learned that parents Medication-assisted treatment, and siblings of the addict are also along with behavioral therapy, victims of this disease. They watch increases the chance of recovery. their brother or sister create chaos We cannot make anyone get well. in the house and struggle with They have to do this on their own, their anger. If the sibling dies, they but recovery is possible with the feel guilt for not trying harder. support of family, professional They need help, too. intervention and a solid support network — Alcoholics Anonymous, During one of the many sessions Narcotics Anonymous or some- we spent with Justin’s addiction thing similar. psychiatrist, he said as long as there is life, there is hope. I think We learned that this is a brain of that often. When I first heard it, disease and that some research- there was no connection for me ers believe that even the first use is because deep inside I never be- not voluntary. We learned that 40 lieved Justin would die. The pain percent of the people who abuse and anxiety caused by living with substances suffer from a mental- the disease clouded my judgment health issue that might include social and caused such anger and resent- anxiety, generalized anxiety, depres- ment that I couldn’t see my son’s sion, obsessive compulsive disorder, pain. I only saw the symptoms of ADHD and bipolar disorder. the disease: lying, stealing and The memorial and recovery wall at the St. Christopher's Inn treatment center in We learned that early use of manipulating. Garrison. Photo by Anita Peltonen 18 September - October, 2017 The Highlands Current highlandscurrent.com with the goal of reducing abuse Spring. All the police forces in the to recognize that the opioid crisis We see enormous amounts of and addiction. region meet monthly where we is part of a plan of attack by unof- fentanyl coming to New York state So long as there is one person share information, including about ficial international corporations and to the Hudson Valley from struggling with addiction in our narcotics. — loosely connected cartels that China, and finding its way into community, we need to try harder This is a difficult subject, but have one goal: keep as many of other drugs. That’s a criminal ac- and make prevention and treat- when an overdose death occurs the our citizens as possible devoted to tion that needs to be confronted. ment a priority. Let’s put someone scene should not be cleaned up their product. The Hudson Valley is situated next to a major city, and that proxim- in charge. before police arrive. There are ongo- Marc Molinaro is the Dutchess ing investigations in Putnam County ity makes it easier to move illegal Beth Greco is the CEO and County Executive. drugs. They get into the hands of where evidence gathered at the Addiction needs to be ad- president of the Walter Hov- scene may lead to arresting dealers. people who shouldn’t have them, ing Home, a Christian ministry dressed as a mental health issue. people who are fighting addiction founded in Garrison in 1967 As a community, we have to Our goal is to divert the individual as well as those who want to buy that serves women who have somehow deal with the pain-pill from ever needing to go to the and sell. All of that converges to been addicted to drugs. issue. There is no quick fix. If there emergency room or criminal justice make our problem — I wouldn’t We must give people hope and were, it would have been done system. The Dutchess County Sta- say unique — but certainly more instill the belief that addicts can already. bilization Center [a 24-hour crisis acute. recover. We need to recognize center that opened in Poughkeep- Robert Tendy is the Putnam sie in February] is a critical tool to Lisa Scicluna is co-chair of it as a battle for a person’s life County district attorney. Philipstown Communities — it will take families, communi- acknowledging that. It’s based on The priority is to save lives. This the belief that individuals, if pro- That Care. Her brother, Joey ties, schools, businesses, police, can be done by utilizing every Maddaloni, died of an over- churches and other faith-based vided with the right response, can resource available: expanded use find their way to recovery. dose in 2008 at age 22. organizations, medical profession- of Narcan for overdoses; education als and government to make a Every county in America should We need greater support in our from an early age about the risks emergency rooms. When someone difference. That will mean getting of drug abuse and the benefits of have something like this. And long- our own agendas out of the way term beds and long-term care comes in with an overdose, we a healthy lifestyle; teaching par- need to have a professional there and making the priority to work ents to be vigilant for signs of drug are the responsibility of state and together, even if we have different federal governments, along with to discuss recovery and treatment abuse and to seek help immedi- options in a non-judgmental way. viewpoints or methods. ately; a change in our society’s insurance companies, which should be required to provide assistance. Would a person at high risk for dia- Helen Keller said it best: “Alone views about using prescription betic complications get released we can do so little; together we drugs for seemingly every problem The opioid crisis is the public without speaking to someone who can do so much.” We have to rec- that arises — even to the point that health crisis of our lifetime. It af- can guide them? Someone who ognize that each individual in need we have some children regularly fects every income level, every has overdosed deserves the same will respond to different types of taking pills as early as 4 years old. background, every religion, every guidance. help. Our team members partici- These children can grow up to race, every color, every creed, both pate in many coalitions, and I travel have no understanding and no fear genders. There’s isn’t a family that In addition, the judicial and the country working with women at of the risks of drug use. is not affected by addiction, and in prison system needs to better our homes in Garrison; Las Vegas; particular, opioid and heroin addic- address those with this disease. It is also important to have com- For many, what landed them in Pasadena, California; and Oxford, passionate and understanding law tion and abuse. New Jersey. I see people working court or prison is a symptom of the enforcement when dealing with vic- I’m not a physician, a psychia- disease. together and it encourages me tims of drug abuse, who would love trist or a psychologist. I observe. that we will see progress. to stop using but cannot. Nobody This county has never confronted To parents of young children — Being from the faith-based com- wants to become an addict. We mental illness and drug addiction do not assume this won’t ever affect munity, being freed from addiction need expanded facilities for treat- in a way that it ought to. It has your family. Educate yourself on myself and working in the field for ment — real, long-term treatment. always treated it only as some sort prevention. Just as you try to instill more than 25 years, I believe that of stigmatized issue or criminality. healthy physical habits now, like eat- All of the above are important ing vegetables and applying sun- together we can put hope within and must be part of the plan. How- Drug addiction can lead to crimi- the reach of every addict. nal behavior, no question, but we block, encourage positive emotional ever, intensive drug-traffic interdic- health. There is never a guarantee, tion also is a necessity. Without need to treat the addiction, and Larry Burke is the officer-in- help the person, and I don’t think but the more odds you can put in charge of the Cold Spring it, we will never turn the tide. This their favor, the better. means de-politicizing the border- that we’ve ever gotten to the point Police Department. where we acknowledge that, insti- For adolescents and young Narcan training has been a pri- security debate. In the realm of “saving lives,” border security is tutionally and universally, and that adults, the window between ex- ority for us. We only need to train still has to be confronted. perimentation and addiction has one more officer. Having a small, not a left versus right discussion. part-time force with limited re- Make no mistake, immigrants — sources is frustrating, especially af- documented and undocumented ter working in narcotics for 14 years — also suffer from the opioid in New York City, where resources crisis. Border security is a matter of seemed unlimited. national security. The U.S. in 2015 We have to talk to the kids. alone seized from our southern They need to know that we’re not borders over 1.5 million pounds the bad guys, that they can trust us of illegal drugs, most of it heroin and that we can help them. and fentanyl. Much more was not seized and entered our neighbor- We also need to be involved in hoods. Unless we can stanch the the broader community. People flow of heroin and fentanyl it will have to let us know what’s going take a very long time to “solve” on, and they do. I attend Com- the opioid crisis. munities That Care meetings. We work with the school resource To that end, we need more state officer at Haldane. I’ve spoken to and federal funding to give law the Lions Club and others to help enforcement agencies the tools educate parents. necessary to track points of origin, entry and distribution; we need The larger community includes severe penalties for repeat offend- Three patients at St. Christopher's Inn treatment center in Garrison — Anthony, law enforcement beyond Cold ers who sell these drugs. We need Tristian and Steven — stand in front of an honor wall at the facility. Photo by Anita Peltonen highlandscurrent.com The Highlands Current September - October, 2017 19 become much smaller due to the Heidi Snyder is a potency of the drugs out there. pharmacist and No one ever plans to become president and CEO an addict. It is a disease that can of Drug World prance right in once the door has Pharmacies, which been opened. The risks are great, includes a store in whether you use regularly or just Cold Spring. once. I don’t have all the Addiction is a disease and it answers on how to needs to be treated as such. It can address the crisis, but be managed, no matter your age my immediate goal is or circumstance. There is hope. to get Narcan into 100 Reach out. There is no need to homes and businesses fight alone. in Philipstown, and Terrence Murphy represents from there, into every eastern Putnam County in the home and business. It state Senate and was a mem- should be inside every ber of the governor’s Heroin first-aid kit. and Opioid Task Force. We offer Narcan Treating heroin and opioid ad- free without a pre- diction requires getting to the root scription at our phar- of the problem, which is the over- macies — the state prescribing of opioids to patients covers the co-pay up with short-term, acute pain. This is to $40. Anyone can Graffiti spotted recently near the Cold Spring train station. Many people are working to make this why I sponsored legislation to limit request it. It’s a nasal message obsolete. Photo by Michael Turton opioid prescriptions from 30-day spray, you spray it in supplies to seven-day supplies. to the person’s nose. I tell people that I want to see them the answer is sometimes, “Yes, I hear horror stories all the time Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed the come into get a new one because because I wouldn’t have had to wait about high school athletes who bill, S8139, into law in 2016 and it the one they had expired without after calling 911.” become addicted to opioids or heroin after suffering an injury. In has become a national model. In being used. Sean Patrick Maloney repre- July, Senators Kirsten Gillibrand fact, nearly 80 percent of Ameri- You may think, well, no one in my sents New York’s 18th Dis- cans using heroin reported misus- of New York and John McCain trict, which includes Philip- of Arizona introduced the idea in family is suffering from opioid ad- ing prescription opioids first. We diction. But people visit your home, stown and Beacon, in the U.S. need to engage our well-meaning Congress as part of their Opioid Congress. This commentary Addiction Prevention Act. you may have friends or relatives doctors with efforts to curb the who you don’t know have a prob- first appeared on Sept. 13 opioid epidemic. But there is more to be done. lem, you may encounter a stranger in The Hill, a newspaper in That’s why I worked across the Families are paying enormous who has overdosed. I keep one in Washington, D.C. aisle last year to include my bill, the amounts to send loved ones to so- my purse and one at home and I You don’t have to be a genius Opioid Review Modernization Act, ber homes. While there have been don’t have anyone in my life that I to figure out that our old ideas for in the Comprehensive Addiction successes, sober homes in New know of who is addicted. combating drug abuse just aren’t Recovery Act. The law encourages York state are unregulated, posing working. The heroin and opioid People say: “The opioid crisis is pharmaceutical companies to use a significant financial risk to pa- epidemic is a national crisis that a terrible problem, I just don’t know anti-addiction properties in new tients. There are also accounts of affects all of us, and that means what to do.” This is something you medications, and it directs the FDA people across the state overdosing all of us need to get in the game. can do as a caring person and a citi- to come up with a curriculum to at these facilities. zen. Every person who is saved from It’s time to start addressing the disease of addiction by promot- share with doctors on the dangers There must be accountability an overdose gets another chance. ing new ideas on prevention and of overprescribing. and consequences for bad actors. Who doesn’t deserve one more treatment instead of just sending We can educate all we want, but Profiting from those seeking help, chance in this world? Maybe it’s the people to jail. we can’t win this fight without also and not providing the promised chance they needed to get clean. I cracking down on the people who care, cannot be tolerated. ask young people, “Have you ever Combating this epidemic starts regretted not having Narcan?” and with conversations at home around are pedaling this garbage to our kitchen tables, in classrooms, and kids. Our national leaders should on practice fields. Education is allocate the funding necessary to our best tool to help people stay crack down on drug dealers. Local off of drugs. We should each take leaders in particularly high-traffic responsibility for teaching our kids areas should apply for the High the dangers of heroin and opioid Intensity Drug Trafficking Area use and be on the lookout for signs (HIDTA) designation. The HIDTA that our kids are using drugs. designation brings additional local, state and federal resources to your Schools, libraries and police area to help crack down on dealers departments can aid in this effort and provides more help in keep- by providing materials and train- ing people off drugs in the first ing for these difficult discussions. It place. I worked to get my district, also means keeping an eye on the the Hudson Valley of New York, a medications our family members HIDTA designation, and it has been are prescribed and taking unused a huge help in stopping drug deal- medications to an approved take- ers and preventing people from back program. State and local becoming addicted. governments can help by expand- ing drug takeback programs and Prevention can’t be the only getting the word out on programs solution. Many Americans already that already exist. suffering from addiction simply A T-shirt in memory of Matt Herring, 24, who died of an overdose on Aug. 25 don’t know how to find help and We also need a commitment Photo by Ross Corsiar turn their lives around. We need a from industry leaders and doctors. 20 September - October, 2017 For mail delivery, see highlandscurrent.com/delivery strategy that improves access to deaths. I assume we all would This year’s budget added more lifesaving treatment and medica- prefer to save the life of a loved than $200 million to aggressively tions like Narcan. Throwing low- one who gets caught up in this combat the crisis and included level offenders in jail only perpetu- nightmare. The research inform- funding to open new beds for ates the cycle of addiction and ing my office suggests that many treatment — something that I incarceration instead of treating people die because they do not believe plays a critical role in the and preparing people for produc- know what they are taking or they recovery process. I was proud to tive lives in the community. are unfamiliar with the risks of secure funding for the Dutchess consuming particular substances in We should give our law enforce- County Stabilization Center that Publisher ment officers more discretion in combination. will play a key role in connecting Highlands Current Inc. dealing with people with addic- Our first line of defense, then, is individuals and families with criti- 161 Main St. tions. There are pilot programs to provide people with information cal resources, and I have hosted Cold Spring NY 10516-2818 across the country that allow our that can keep them alive. Then we awareness events and Narcan 291 Main St., Beacon NY 12508 police to do that – and they’re can help them see that they do not trainings across our community to working. Law Enforcement As- need to use these drugs. empower our neighbors. Founder sisted Diversion (LEAD) programs Gordon Stewart (1939 - 2014) Combating this epidemic will in Gloucester, Massachusetts, and Patrice Wallace-Moore is CEO take committed partners at every Seattle give police officers the of the Arms Acres treatment Managing Editor level, and our top priority should be Chip Rowe chance to take people with addic- center in Carmel. [email protected] tions directly to treatment instead Finding a single priority in dealing investing in tools and resources that of booking them into the criminal with the crisis is not easy. However, have a proven record of success. limiting the access to opioids avail- justice system. Judge James Reitz oversees Series Contributers able to the general public would be People who were sent to recov- the Putnam County Drug Liz Schevtchuk Armstrong effective. That doesn’t mean people ery as part of these programs were Treatment Court. Lynn Carano (graphics) won’t be able to get opioids for pain almost 60 percent less likely to be Ross Corsair relief, but the risk of early introduc- The epidemic is the result of a rearrested. We should recreate Brian PJ Cronin tion from unsupervised medicine combination of things. We’re losing programs like these nationwide Anita Peltonen cabinets would be lessened. fundamental family structure; the and tailor them to local needs. ability to have checks and balances Jeff Simms Based on the success of these pro- Limiting access, accompanied on young people. As they grow Michael Turton grams, I introduced the Keeping by continuing education (early up, if values aren’t instilled, if they Scott Veale (editing) Kate Vikstrom (layout) Communities Safe Through Treat- intervention, secondary school don’t have strong ethics and the ment Act to help expand them. prevention, videos and advertise- ability to say no, that’s where we’re The Highlands Current is a 501c3 ments) can help with addressing My bill would create grant funding losing a lot of ground. That’s where nonprofit funded by grants, the prevention and stigmatization advertising and the generous to allow more police departments it starts. across the country to try out this surrounding addiction. support of our readers. Thank you. The crisis can be reduced, or new strategy to cut down on re- Increasing treatment options peat offenders. is great, but it should come after even stopped, one family, and one person, at a time. Let’s reacquaint If this strategy is going to work, education and prevention efforts our culture with family. If you bring our recovery centers have to focus have been attempted. children into this world you have to on whole-person rehabilitation that Sue Serino represents the be responsible 24-7. Even before THE HIGHLANDS CURRENT helps people live a healthier life Highlands in the state Senate. from top to bottom. Studies show they are born, your conduct must is published weekly by that the best recovery programs I want to first thank The High- mirror good decision-making. Then Highlands Current Inc., help people get back on their lands Current for its in-depth you have to care for them, educate 161 Main St., Cold Spring, NY 10516- feet by finding work and housing. coverage of this critical issue. Tak- them about making good deci- 2818. Nonprofit postage paid at If we want people to stop using ing the time to understand addic- sions. In this culture, leadership Newburgh, NY. for good, we need them to have tion, to highlight resources, and to from the top down is saying it’s OK POSTMASTER: Send address long-term stability and focus – and connect community members with to make mistakes but not be held changes to The Highlands these programs provide it. one another to create a network of accountable. Yes, you can make hope are some of the most critical- mistakes. But you have to be held Current, 161 Main St., Cold Spring, If we want things to get better for ly important things that we can do accountable for them. NY 10516-2818. Mail delivery $20 our families and communities, we to help overcome this epidemic. per year. have to throw out our old playbook Awareness is the key to prevention, Arlene Seymour manages the and come up with new approaches and it has the power to save lives. treatment programs at highlandscurrent.com/delivery to the heroin and opioid crisis. I CoveCare Center in Carmel. [email protected] look forward to continuing my work Unfortunately, this epidemic does not come with a quick fix and The priority now is for all of us © Highlands Current Inc. 2017 on this and hope that our commu- to work together. We can admit the we cannot take a “one-size-fits-all” All rights reserved. No part of this nities will commit to thinking big old way has not impacted the prob- and working as a team to combat approach to combat it effectively. publication may be reproduced in lem. We need more connection, this problem. Addiction is not only As a member of the state’s Joint any form, mechanical or electronic, and the more problems with addic- a criminal justice challenge – it’s Task Force on Heroin and Opioid without written permission of the tion and or mental health, the more a public health crisis. We need to Addiction, I have worked with my publisher. start treating it that way. colleagues on both sides of the isolated you become because of the aisle to pass legislation and pro- shame and fear. We are changing Frank Skartados represents vide funding for methods that tack- how we structure treatment. Fami- Beacon in the New York State le the issue from various angles by lies and peers are essential players Assembly. focusing on prevention, treatment, in achieving recovery because that My priority as a member of recovery, and support for families reduces the isolation and increases the Assembly is to prevent more impacted by addiction. the connections.