More than 47,000 people in Pennsylvania have died as a result of a drug overdose in the past decade, including 177 Centre County residents, according to Karri Hull, director of the county’s Criminal Justice Planning Office.
Those lives will be honored during the county’s annual candlelight remembrance ceremony at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Talleyrand Park in Bellefonte.
“We welcome family and friends to share stories and pictures and memories of their loved ones,” Hull said at Tuesday’s county Board of Commissioners meeting. “We need to remember these are our community members. These are someone’s son or daughter, someone’s mother or father, husbands, wives, and they just want them to be remembered for the good things they did and not for their indiscretions. There’s still a lot of stigma associated with addiction and opioid use, and even harm reduction efforts. Those families, when they lose their loved ones, even have stigmas associated with trying to grieve that person because of their overdose.”
Hull spoke before the commissioners unanimously approved proclamations recognizing Aug. 31 as Drug Overdose Awareness Day and September as National Recovery Month in Centre County. The courthouse in Bellefonte also will be lighted purple throughout September in honor of National Recovery Month.
The state health department estimates that someone in Pennsylvania dies of a drug overdose every two hours, Hull noted, and one in four families are directly affected by overdose.
Recognizing addiction as a chronic disease is critical to getting help for those who need it, she said.
Commissioner Steve Dershem, who has worked with Centre County’s Heroin and Opioid Prevention and Education (HOPE) Initiative since its inception, agreed.
“Chances are everybody in this room and everybody within hearing distance of my voice is going to know somebody that struggled with this disease,” Dershem said. “To be honest with you, I have to say that the faster we get to the acceptance that this is a chronic illness and we need to address it like that, the faster we’re going to be trying to solve some of the bigger issues.”
Resources are available in the county, through the Drug and Alcohol Office and through a network of treatment providers.
“Treatment is effective and recovery does work,” Hull said. “We know that we secure a lot of funding for different programs like our [medication assisted treatment] program at the jail to try to help those with substance use disorder. So we’re constantly looking for new ways to assist those into recovery.”
Information about recovery resources and treatment providers will be available at Wednesday’s vigil. Among them will be Applegate Recovery of State College, which as a “Recognized Entity” of the Pennsylvania Overdose Prevention Program provides free naloxone, the medication used to reverse opioid overdoses, as well as drug-testing strips designed to detect fentanyl and xylazine.
Naloxone, often known by the brand name Narcan, has been an important tool for law enforcement, first responders and community members throughout the country, including in Centre County, in battling the opioid epidemic. Commissioner Mark Higgins said that within weeks of Sheriff’s Office vehicles being equipped with naloxone, “they made a save right here in Bellefonte.”
Dershem urged community members to be equipped with naloxone.
“It’s almost like having an AED. In the event you need it it’s there,” Dershem said. “Every business, every restaurant, every housing development, these should be as common as first aid kits. That’s how we’re going to beat this, because you can’t cure somebody if they’re dead. Unfortunately so many families have experienced this tragedy that it really is something we need to address and take head on, because its a scourge.”
Commissioner Amber Concepcion noted that addiction can affect people of any age, and highlighted the county’s work with medication assisted treatment at the jail as an evidence-based approach that can save lives.
“There’s no shame in going to get treatment,” Concepcion said. “There’s no shame in taking medication for this. We know that that saves lives and keeps families together. There’s a lot that we can do through publicizing the importance of treatment and the effectiveness of treatment to make sure people know that there’s help out there and they’re not alone.”
Centre County residents in need of help with addiction can contact the county Drug and Alcohol Office at 814-355-6744 during business hours or 800–643-5432 after hours and on weekends.
