X

'Chasing The Dragon' on opiate addiction at Ogdensburg Free Academy Monday

Posted 6/1/18

OGDENSBURG -- “Chasing the Dragon: The Life of an Opiate Addict,” a documentary and panel discussion for families on the growing epidemic of drug and heroin abuse will be presented at 6:30 p.m. …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

'Chasing The Dragon' on opiate addiction at Ogdensburg Free Academy Monday

Posted

OGDENSBURG -- “Chasing the Dragon: The Life of an Opiate Addict,” a documentary and panel discussion for families on the growing epidemic of drug and heroin abuse will be presented at 6:30 p.m. on Monday night at the George Hall Auditorium at Ogdensburg Free Academy.

“Every day we see young people and adults suffering from the drug epidemic sweeping through North Country communities,” said Maria Pelosi, a graduating senior and president of the Ogdensburg Free Academy Key Club. The event is free and open to parents and families from across the North Country. "Our emergency workers, law enforcement and health care agencies are battling a crisis. With 180 drug overdoses across St. Lawrence County last year, we need to mobilize the entire community to help address this problem.”

“Earlier this spring, the OFA Key Club showed this documentary to students at Ogdensburg Free Academy,” said Miss Pelusi. “The audience, made up of students from 6th grade to 12th graders, found this powerful documentary to be a real wake up call to the dangers posed by this epidemic of drug abuse.”

The film is being presented by the OFA Key Club, the Ogdensburg City School District and the Safer Ogdensburg for All (SOFA), a community-based coalition that is working to educate the community to prevent substance abuse and support those in the recovery process.

“We felt it was very important to get this message to adults and family members,” she said. “The drug crisis is very real. In St. Lawrence County, the health department is finding that almost 47 percent of the people who are dying from drug overdoses are young people under the age of 30. This film is difficult to watch, but it helps tell the story about the tragic consequences that come with abusing these drugs.”

“An opioid and prescription drug abuse epidemic is sweeping the country and Northern New York, impacting all segments of society,” said Noelle Dutch, a junior and incoming president of the high school service club. “To help raise awareness of this epidemic and to help educate young people on the dangers of addiction, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Drug Enforcement Administration have released this documentary which offers a compilation of heart-wrenching first-person accounts by addicts and family members of addicts.”

The individuals featured in the film—a few of whom are highlighted below—chose to tell their stories to help stop others from going down the same destructive path. Their stories include:

Katrina, a former business executive and mother who became addicted to opiates after self-medicating with pain pills and alcohol and whose own daughter died of a drug overdose. “You can’t go back and say, ‘I’m sorry,’ or set a better example, or talk ‘em out of it,” she says. And of her own addiction, she explains, “The spiral down is so fast...and I lost everything. I lost my daughter first and foremost. So all the work I did, all those dreams I had, it’s like I’m starting over again with a huge weight on my shoulder...all for a pill.”

Matt, who began using marijuana at age 11 and became addicted to opiates at age 15. “In the beginning,” he explains, “I would always try to get pills because you know what you’re getting. Eventually, that just got too expensive...so then you’d go for heroin because it’s cheaper.”

Trish, whose daughter Cierra—an honor roll student at her high school—died after a heroin overdose. “Cierra did not take life for granted until she started using,” says her mother. “It is much stronger than you, and it will win.” Noting the broader impact of addiction, Trish adds, “It affects everyone in your family for the rest of their life...we’re the ones stuck missing you.

Chasing the Dragon also features interviews with medical and law enforcement professionals discussing a variety of issues, including how quickly addiction can set in, how the increasing costs of prescription opioids can lead to the use of heroin as a less expensive alternative, the horrors of withdrawal, the ties between addiction and crime, and the fact that, contrary to popular belief, opiate abuse is prevalent in all segments of society.