LIBERTY– The drug addiction problem has reached epidemic proportions but people who are suffering can seek relief. That was the message during Tuesday evening’s event in Liberty to mark International Overdose Awareness Day.
Sullivan County District Attorney Meagan Galligan spoke of a personal situation her family faced a number of years ago.
“I was going to say that I know better than most the effects of opioid overdose having been through an addiction in my family. But the truth is many of you know it better than I do because my sister was saved. She went on from her addiction in the 1990s to long-term in-patient treatment – about 18 months – and since then she is married and has had two very productive and lovely children. So, she is a success story where many, unfortunately aren’t,” she said.
Sullivan County BOCES District Superintendent Robert DeFour, a member of the county drug task force, said the fight to save those with addiction now has a useful tool.
“We are fortunate to have a magic bullet in our fight against opioid overdoses, something that did not exist in the ‘70s, ‘80s or ‘90s, Narcan,” he said.
And that life-saving tool is being made available to a widespread portion of the community, including in schools across Sullivan.
Others who spoke included Julie Pisall whose daughter, Rebecca was 20 when she was murdered in 2014 in a drug deal, and Valerie Gilliam, who came to Monticello from Queens to tell her story of recovery from addiction.
