Mother urges `break stigma' of drug addiction

By Tessa Roy
Posted 5/2/17

By TESSA ROY Speaking at a town hall at the Warwick Police station on Wednesday, Deborah Parente said she first learned of her son Peter's drug addiction when she found syringes in his drawers while putting away laundry. She described some successful

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Mother urges `break stigma' of drug addiction

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Speaking at a town hall at the Warwick Police station on Wednesday, Deborah Parente said she first learned of her son Peter’s drug addiction when she found syringes in his drawers while putting away laundry. She described some successful bouts of treatment, but also some relapses. Peter died at age 25 after a heart attack, and Parente emphasized that she is always honest about the fact her son was addicted to heroin.

“So many families are ashamed to talk about that. People are threatened by the stigma,” she said. “Losing a child to an overdose doesn't make you a bad parent. It doesn't make them a bad person. What it does do is causes you never to get the chance to say goodbye.”

Parente implored people to reach out for help when they need it and not be threatened by the stigma of drug addiction.

“Help was too late for my son Peter, but it’s not too late for your children or your loved ones,” she said.

The town hall audience of a little more than 70 people was shown a portion of Chasing the Dragon, a documentary produced by the FBI and DEA in which more people personally affected by opioid addiction told their stories. The crowd was audibly shocked as they listened to those in the film detail either losing a loved one or their own battles with addiction that resulted in jail time or extensive medical interventions.

After the film, former U.S. Attorney Peter Neronha, who hosted the event with Mayor Scott Avedisian, posed questions to panelists Dr. James MacDonald of the RI Department of Health, Michael Rizzi of Medication Assisted Treatment & Behavioral Healthcare, Linda Mahoney of BHDDH, Sarah Dinklage of RI Student Assistance Services, Captain Rick Rathbun of the Warwick Police Department, and David Neill of the U.S. Attorney’s Office and retired RI State Police Major. Bridgemark Addiction Recovery Services, based in Warwick, was also present at the panel to provide information to attendees.

Panelists shared some frightening statistics and anecdotes. Mahoney said Rhode Island has the third highest amount of opiate overdose deaths per capita: 55 to 60 percent of those deaths are related to fentanyl.

“There is no such thing as ‘clean’ heroin out there, or even cocaine at this point,” she said.

Rathbun said that “you cannot arrest this problem away,” and law enforcement realizes this, but the numbers are “sobering.” In the past five years, one K9 unit seized 9,372 grams of heroin with a street value of $3.5 million, 781 grams of fentanyl with a street value of $112,000, he said. He added that in 2016, there were 206 overdose related calls made to Warwick Police. This year to date, Rathbun said there have been 44 overdose related calls.

Some of those calls involved the use of Narcan, which panelists said is easy to get. The best way, Mahoney said, is to go to CVS or Walgreens where Narcan can be obtained through one’s health insurance and without a prescription. Panelists also noted that it’s important to get rid of old prescriptions because, as Rizzi said, “every person who has access to opioids is potentially at risk.” Warwick Police have a dropbox where such prescriptions can be deposited.

Superintendent Philip Thornton, Elementary Director Lynn Dambruch and other school administrators were present at the town hall, which Avedisian said was necessary in deciding how best to have age appropriate conversations about the overdose crisis with all students.

“It’s a balancing act. We don't want to alarm everyone, but we need to be honest about it,” Avedisian said.

After the town hall, Thornton said he’s working on coordinating assembly style screenings of Chasing the Dragon for middle and high school students. A parent asked him whether parents would be notified before the screenings so they could have an opportunity to speak to their children, to which he responded they would.

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