Breaking the cycle of opioid addiction
Narcotics anonymous programs in Montco play an important role in dealing with the drug addiction crisis.
“I had tried different things … None of the stuff worked for me at all.” — Pat, recovering opioid addict
Pat had just intravenously injected heroin through his jugular vein.
He was in the Kensington neighborhood where he played as a child, not far from the house his mother still lived.
“I ended up sleeping on one of those benches in McPherson Square…[addiction] was a terrible life.”
Eventually Pat traveled to Montgomery County seeking treatment. “I had tried different things. None of the stuff worked for me at all.”
He had gone through several medication-assisted treatment programs using either suboxone or methadone as a substitute for heroin. Those work for some people. They didn’t work for Pat. He didn’t experience long-term recovery until he was introduced to a 12-step fellowship program called Narcotics Anonymous through Eagleville Hospital. That was 36 years ago. Now clean, Pat spent his next 36 years working in the treatment community, specifically, running Narcotics Anonymous meetings in Montgomery County, and within some of its prisons.
Narcotics Anonymous programs like these have by no means stopped the opioid epidemic. But in Montgomery County, they are an important piece of how the community is dealing with the crisis.
Pat invited a reporter to attend an Narcotics Anonymous meeting at a small brick church whose location has been withheld.
Walking into the building, two older men taking a smoke break were extremely friendly — in fact, the entire atmosphere was startlingly genial. People hugged and seemed happy.
To start the meeting, a few participants read text aloud from the Narcotics Anonymous handbook. Then, a 22-year-old man shared his story of sobriety to celebrate 90 days of being clean.
Subsequently, the floor was opened to anyone to share, although because this was a “new members” meeting, newcomers were invited to speak first.
One woman said that she had just begun her journey to sobriety, and had been sober for less than 24 hours. She, like others who followed her, was received by other members thanking her for sharing her story and encouraging her to come back.
When older members shared their stories, one man said that he had been sober for more than 40 years, and that coming to these meetings was his “medicine,” keeping him on the right path.
The philosophy of Narcotics Anonymous centers on understanding the emotional roots of addiction, and providing a community to aid in supporting those who want to recover and better their lives. Members work through the 12 Steps of recovery in order; they are instructed to admit they have a problem, seek a higher power, and create a “searching and fearless” moral inventory of themselves. A more experienced member, as well as the larger community, encourage them along the way.
Nowadays it is hard to find anyone who does not know someone affected by the opioid epidemic. Montgomery County has not been spared from what has become a nationwide fight against opioid-based drug addiction.
In fact, the county saw a 40 percent increase in drug-related deaths from 2015-2017, according to the 2017 report, “Tracking the Opioid Epidemic in Montgomery County.
When it came to opioids specifically, there was a 60 percent increase in deaths over that same time frame, according to information collected by the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office.
Since 2017, there has been a promising 13 percent drop in the number of opioid-related deaths.
The county has been making efforts to reduce harm from opioids and other drugs.
In October of 2018, Montgomery County received a $1 million grant (over 3 years) from the Federal Office of Justice Programs to combat drug overdoses.
The money was used to create a “multi-disciplinary” group of experts from fields such as law enforcement, emergency medicine, and social work to develop strategies to combat problems caused by the opioid crisis in Montgomery County. The group worked to compile new and old data on drug overdoses and