THE HEROIN SCOURGE They’re talking in Springfield
TOWNSHIP HOLDS TOWN HALL MEETING TO DISCUSS DRUG EPIDEMIC
SPRINGFIELD >> “Just Say No” was the slogan championed by First Lady Nancy Reagan in the 1980s to discourage children from engaging in illegal recreational drug use.
Sean Rodgers knows it’s not quite that simple.
Rodgers was among the speakers Monday night at the first Springfield Cares town hall, joining commissioners president Jeff Rudolph, members of the township police department, Delaware County District Attorney Jack Whelan and county councilmen Mike Culp and Dave White, advocates and experts at the township building to talk about the effects of the heroin epidemic. The open conversation, attended by nearly 150 residents, focused on learning the signs of addiction, the road to recovery, assisting friends and loved ones and how a community can come together and help.
“People would ask me, ‘Why can’t you just stop?” said Rodgers, who has been in long-term recovery since Dec. 11, 2011. “No one wants to hurt their loved ones and hear their parents crying at night, but there is an imaginary line we cross to the point of addiction.”
Formed in April 2016, Springfield Care’s mission is to provide education about substance use disorder and resources for education, prevention and treatment options. The impetus was the recognition that substance abuse — particularly the increased use of opiates — has become a significant mental and medical health problem.
“We are a coalition of residents, elected officials and concerned citizens who want to help those in need,” said Rudolph. “Opioid and heroin addiction is a disease and Delaware County is one of the top four problem counties in the state.”
The coalition works in conjunction with the Delaware County Drug Task Force, established in 2012 in an effort reduce the demand for heroin and illegally-used prescription drugs and the crime associated with it and inform citizens about the resources available to prevent and treat addiction. The task force has installed medicine drop boxes throughout the county, initiated Second Chance Court, a system to divert low- to moderate-risk offenders into treatment as soon as possible after their initial court appearance, and funded 52 beds in the treatment center at Crozer-Chester Medical Center.
One of the task force’s major accomplishments has been the naloxone program, known under the brand name Narcan, a medication used to block the effects of opioids, especially in an overdose. Initiated by Whelan, the drug is carried in police cars throughout the county and has been administered more than 600 times.
“One of the most difficult things I have had to do as D.A. was to tell parents their child had died,” he said. “Because police carry naloxone, it lets people know they care – that they may be able to save a life – and as a result, we get to tell parents their child will be OK.”
Rodgers and the stories of fellow recovering addicts were countered by parents whose children are in the grips of, or who succumbed to the disease. Township businessman Bob Simpson spoke about his son, a 13-year heroin addict who has had “seven-eight rehab stays and many relapses.”
“Don’t be a parent like I was,” he said. “I saw the signs — I just didn’t know what they meant.”
One of the hoped-for takeaways from the night was the knowledge that help is available for the addict and his or her family. The logo of Springfield Cares is a compass and its goal is to aid in navigating the process for all who struggle with substance use disorder.
“It is OK to ask for help,” said Rodgers. “It is OK to be in recovery.”
“People would ask me, ‘Why can’t you just stop? No one wants to hurt their loved ones and hear their parents crying at night, but there is an imaginary line we cross to the point of addiction.”
— Sean Rodgers, who has been in long-term recovery since Dec. 11, 2011