A mother asked where to turn for help for her son who is addicted to heroin.
A girlfriend questioned why she couldn’t get the prescription drugs her boyfriend needed when no detox beds were available.
A friend wondered why the drug dealer who gave a co-worker’s child a lethal dose of opioids wasn’t in prison.
These were a few of the complex and emotional questions posed Thursday night by those who attended Ending the Silence at the John S. Knight Center in Akron.
The three-hour event, sponsored by the Beacon Journal following a series that examined the opioid-overdose crisis, reinforced that there are no easy answers to the problem, while also showing that many people care — and want to help. The audience of about 450 included recovering addicts, family members who have lost loved ones to overdoses and public officials who are grappling with this issue.
The event began with comments from five panelists who have firsthand experience with the heroin problem. They included two recovering addicts now trying to help others with their recovery, representatives of two health agencies and the Akron police chief.
Steve Brennan, an addict on the panel who started the “Heroin Help” movement this summer, helped set the tone for the somber event when he told the audience about a 24-year-old man he tried to help with his recovery who overdosed and died Wednesday. Brennan pointed to the man’s mother, who was in the audience.
“I am so sorry,” he said, as the mother — who had found her son’s lifeless body — sobbed. “It’s been a really hard day today. I can only imagine what his family is going through. I’m more determined than ever to keep doing what we’re doing!”
Police chief responds
Akron Police Chief James Nice said the public agencies in Akron and Summit County are overwhelmed trying to deal with the huge spike in opioid deaths.
“So bear with us as this problem is evolving,” he requested.
Dr. Alan Shein, co-director of the Addiction Medicine Fellowship Program at Summa Health, said a woman who was recently in the hospital to be treated for abscesses caused by shooting up drugs had her dealer sneak into the hospital to give her more drugs.
He said she took the drugs and overdosed. He found her in time, and the opioid-antidote naloxone revived her.
“That, to me, is the insanity of addiction,” he said.
More funding sought
Shein drew hearty applause from the audience when he said the county needs more detox units and recovery homes.
“To me, part of the answer is we can accomplish more if we have significant increases in funding for treatment,” he said.
“Woo!” a woman in the audience yelled in agreement.
Jerry Craig, executive director of Summit County’s Alcohol, Drug Addiction and Mental Health Services Board, said he thinks the “stigma of addiction” that prevents many from seeking help needs to be lifted.
“We cannot continue to see the disease of addiction as anything other than what it is: It’s a disease,” he said.
Frustration apparent
After the panelists spoke, a question-and-answer session followed, with the questions sometimes becoming heated and reflecting the level of the frustration of the audience members.
One woman told Nice she wished police had arrested her father, who died of an overdose after being revived several times before.
“I’d rather he be in jail,” she said. “Are they going to jail?”
Nice, however, said he doesn’t think those who overdose belong in jail. He said they are provided with information on how to get help for their addiction.
“We’re not putting people that OD in jail,” he said.
Following a heated moment between Nice and activist Nicole Walmsley, one audience member criticized Nice and other panelists for seeming cagey.
“I wish they were more open,” said Tad Simms, a Cuyahoga Falls addict in recovery. “But that’s just my opinion.”
Limited resources
But another spectator, Lorie Toolis, said she thought Walmsley pressing Nice for answers was unnecessary. She said police and public officials are doing the best they can with limited resources.
“I just don’t think it’s fair to attack the police chief,” she said.
Outside the hall, a gray-haired addict, who declined to be identified because he’s still struggling with recovery, said the only reason he was sober for the day was because of the event.
“I didn’t use today so I could come here,” he said.
Mind of an addict
Offering a Beacon Journal reporter a glimpse into the mind of an addict, the man hobbled into the hall and pointed to a row of chairs.
Each seat held a note card, a pen and a bracelet.
“This thing is about recovery, but do you know what I see?”
He said he used to use pens like the ones on the chairs to snort drugs. Something as simple as a pen is one of his “triggers” that reawakens the hold that addiction has on him, he said.
The man likened addiction to binge-eating.
“If I offered you a box of Krispy Kreme doughnuts, how many would you eat?” he asked. “You’d have one or two; I’d have six or maybe more. For an addict, it doesn’t matter what it is — it’s about the pleasure centers.”
Silence ends
Linda Davis, one of the audience members who asked questions, said afterward that she thought the speakers were helpful and informative.
She said denial forced her to keep silent about her son’s addiction for eight years. The stigma held her at bay.
“This event helped me end my silence,” said Davis, a resident of Clinton. “You don’t want to admit the fact that you have a son who’s an addict. But you have to.”
Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at 330-996-3705 or swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com. Nick Glunt can be reached at 330-996-3565 or nglunt@thebeaconjournal.com.