Solemn remembrance
International Overdose Awareness Day in Hartford met with calls for renewed action
In 2018 Fiona Firine’s son, Cameron, took what he thought was an Oxycodone marked pill. Instead, he ingested 11,000 micrograms of pure illicitly manufactured fentanyl.
“That’s 9,000 more micrograms than a lethal dose. My son didn’t stand a chance,” Firine said, standing at the state Capitol Wednesday to mark International Overdose Awareness Day.
Cameron had hoped to recover and one day help others to do the same. In his memory, his mother launched the nonprofit advocacy group For Cameron and continues to help others in the fight
against addiction.
Firine was just one of the many speakers remembering lost loved ones and the immense toll the opioid epidemic has taken on Connecticut
families Wednesday.
Standing in front of 1,531 flags — representing the number of lives lost to the crisis last year alone — Firine was joined by Gov. Ned Lamont, U.S.
Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Attorney General William Tong, Department of Public Health Commissioner Manisha Juthani, Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services Commissioner Nancy Navarretta, CT Harm Reduction Alliance Executive Director Mark Jenkins, Joshonda Guerrier of the Department of Children and Families and other advocates, survivors, and supporters.
“One day out of the year we remember those who are lost to this epidemic, but I have to live with this every day of my life,” said Christine Gagnon, who lost her son Michael to an overdose. “I’m angry, it seems like the problem is just getting worse.”
Michael was just 22 years old when he died. He was on the football team in high school until one day he was kicked off for having marijuana. He went on to experiment with molly, ecstasy, heroin and then fentanyl, the drug that ended his life in 2017.
“Part of this is enforcement and we have to go after the gangs and individuals that manufacture those counterfeit
pills,” Lamont said. “There’s no difference than treating it like a murder weapon. Because that’s what it is.”
According to the state’s Department of Public Health, 2021 saw an 11.4% increase in unintentional and undetermined drug overdoses in Connecticut compared to 2020. In 2021 alone, 93% of those unintentional overdoses involved opioids of some kind.
“As necessary as law enforcement is, we can’t arrest or prosecute our way out of this,” said Blumenthal. “We need to go after tech companies and manufacturers who are complicit. But we also need to recognize the importance of investing more in mental health.”
Blumenthal later in the day visited New Britain to announce $1.2 million in federal funding for construction of a crisis respite program at Community Mental Health Affiliates headquarters there. The grant will help build a respite wing within their new mental health care facility specializing in substance use disorder.
“We cannot allow this public health crisis to continue,” Blumenthal said.
According to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, the percentage of accidental drug intoxication deaths that involved an opioid was
93%, and the percentage that included fentanyl was 86%. Fentanyl is involved with the most amount of deaths out of any other opioid, and the use of fentanyl and cocaine together is the most deadly combination. Heroin and fentanyl is another highly used combination, resulting in the second highest number of accidental deaths.
Tong, who called Christine and her daughter Daria Gagnon up to the podium, pledged that his office would continue to fight for justice for victims and their families.
“We are taking the fight to the manufacturing industry,” Tong said. “I spend more time on the opioid and the addiction crisis than anything else.”
Tong said that since 2019 the state has helped in the national effort to recover over $40 billion dollars through legal action against opioid drug manufacturers, which is the second largest cash recovery in history.
“Twenty-six billion dollars of that amount was settled with the nation’s three major pharmaceutical distributors —
Cardinal, Mckesson, and Amerisourcebergen — and Johnson & Johnson,” Tong said.
Fifty-two states and territories have signed on to the agreement as well as thousands of local governments across the country. In Connecticut, all municipalities have joined. Connecticut received approximately $300 million to be distributed
to cities and towns.
Tong also highlighted another settlement earlier this year that ensured Purdue Pharma and the Sackler family will pay $6 billion to victims, survivors, and states for their role in the opioid epidemic— 40% more than the previously vacated settlement appealed by Connecticut.
“We continue our fight for justice,” Tong said. “We will not stop fighting.”
“I’m lucky to be alive,” said Tiffany Kane, an overdose survivor and one of the speakers at the event. “I hit rock bottom, I completely lost my will to live. I didn’t want to be here anymore. I remember waking up in the ambulance on the day I overdosed and being furious that the EMTS revived me. I was lost and completely hopeless.”
Kane, who is now two years in recovery, said she now has a “life worth living” with friends, family and a job she loves as a recovery coach with the Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery. Kane helps female inmates struggling with addiction at the York Correctional Facility in Niantic.
“Don’t ever lose hope,” Kane said. “There is a better life waiting just around the corner. It’s my job every day to tell people that.”