Two important messages in the war on heroin
They are the faces of those left behind.
You want to know about the toll the new wave of heroin abuse is leaving in its wake, both here in Delaware County, and across the region and nation?
Talk to people like Tricia Stouch. Or Brianna Clothier. Or Marie Datillo.
They’ve all lost a loved one to heroin.
They brought their message to a vigil held Saturday night in Upper Chichester attended by more than 200 people Saturday night.
The event was meant to shine a spotlight on drug awareness and dubbed Not One More – Save Our Generation. It is part of the larger umbrella established by Narcotics, Overdose, Prevention, Education, or N.O.P.E, as it is called. The group was founded by Tricia Stouch after she was devastated by the loss of her daughter to heroin abuse.
But perhaps the message that was most needed was delivered by Brandon Novak. He’s a professional skateboarder, author, stuntman and actor who has starred in several movies with Johnny Knoxville.
But Novak also is something else. And that’s what brought him to Delaware County Saturday night.
Novak is a recovering heroin junkie.
Yes, it can be done. You can escape the grasp of opioids. It’s not easy, and it’s a never-ending process, but it can be done.
Novak brought something to the crowd that gathered that is too often missing when we talk about those battling addiction: Hope.
Novak explained just how bad his own situation had gotten in relating his mother’s exasperation in dealing with his addiction.
“My mother had nothing else to give,” Novak said. “She had exhausted all options, opportunities and resources and she had nothing left to help me go to treatment. One day she went to church with one prayer: Either cure him, kill him or kill me because I can’t take this any longer.”
Clothier lost her fiancé. Datillo lost her grandson.
She stressed something else that often is not heard in this debate.
“My grandson died of a disease, he did not set out to be an addict,” Datillo said. “Addiction affects every walk of life. Nobody goes out and just does heroin. It starts somewhere. Education is the key.”
That idea of heroin having its roots somewhere else make something else that happened on Friday that much more important.
County law enforcement and health officials constantly are now warning about the dangers of legitimate, powerful painkillers and their link to the current heroin scourge.
Many people get injured and receive a legitimate prescription for painkillers, such as Vicodin and Oxycontin, from their doctor. They soon find themselves addicted. When the prescription expires, they hit the streets in search of an alternative. That often leads them to heroin.
Or children may tap into prescriptions written for their parents. Or perhaps help themselves to unused pills that are left over after pain treatment subsides.
To battle these elements, the county was one of the first to establish drug drop boxes where residents could safely drop off unused or unwanted prescription drugs.
On Friday they rolled out the next step. Instead of waiting for people to come to them, they will now take the issue to the people – via a mobile drug collection van. County officials plan to have the van present at many community events, where people will be able to properly dispose of prescription medications.
The program has proven effective, with more than 60 pounds of unwanted pills disposed of at the county’s Community Day celebration in April.
“We know it works, we know it’s going to be effective and know it’s giving the residents of Delaware County another opportunity to dispose of their prescription medications,,” said District Attorney Jack Whelan.
Since 2013, when the drug drop-off program debuted, the county has incinerated approximately 16,000 pounds of prescription drugs collected through drop-boxes located at municipal police departments and the county courthouse.
Aston resident Samantha DiMaggio knows all too well about the dangers. She put together Saturday’s vigil, with the help of her mother, Tina DiMaggio.
“Addiction runs in our family,” Samantha DiMaggio said. “We’ve lost four people since August.”
A spokesman from the state Attorney General’s Office read the grim toll: 52,404 opioid deaths in the United States in 2015.
Here in Delaware County, the death toll from overdoses in 2015 checks in at a grim 208 lives lost.
It’s important to hear the message of Brandon Novak.
And it’s equally important to continue to take steps to battle this pressing problem.
We saw both this past weekend.