‘Chasing the Dragon’ screening, panel discussions lead Red Ribbon Week

WASILLA — Dozens of students gathered in the Wasilla High School theater to watch “Chasing the Dragon,” a locally made film that illustrates the cycle of opioid addiction through many points of view. After the film, there was a panel discussion led by Opioid Task Force Chair and MyHouse Vice President and Recovery Specialist, Michael Carson. With him were several guest speakers with varied experience with opioid addiction from reformed addicts, to doctors and families affected by their kin’s addiction. Among the guest speakers were: Dr. Michael Alter from Mat-Su Regional Center; Carl Soderstrom, the founder of Fiend to Clean, a support group for opiate addicts; Jeff Walker, a facilitator for Narcotics Anonymous; Terria Walters, the founder and president of Fallen Up Ministries, a spiritual program that specializes in support for felons and those struggling with substance abuse, and a mother of an opioid addict who did not want her name revealed. The workshop is a part of the Red Ribbon Week activities where the Opioid Task Force combined its efforts with local schools around the district to help prevent and raise awareness about opioid addiction.

“The word has gotten out that we’re working upstream and trying to turn the tide on the opioid epidemic. Schools are a huge partner and we have to them an acknowledgement to step up and be part of the solution,” Carson said.

One of the prominent points made by the film was that 90 percent of heroin users began with prescription medication and 80 percent of opioid addicts got their first pills from family or friends. During the panel discussion, emotions ran high for the speakers and the students. Several students had questions and one even had a painful statement to reveal, “my little cousin is dead!” She sobbed uncontrollably after relating the story of how her aunt gave her baby cousin an opiate instead of baby Tylenol. The baby overdosed and died. The aunt is now incarcerated for manslaughter, she said.

“When I was in high school, it was parties in the 80s. We weren’t talking about stuff like this,” Walters said.

Walters spoke to several students after the panel discussion. It appeared that some really needed help with their own lives being unmanageable and another really wanted help other people’s lives. Walters and Carson noted the passion of one student who asked about how to treat addiction as a disease and not a crime, allowing more opportunities for people to get help instead of being locked up. During the panel, the student asked how to re-integrate addicts and how to support them. He felt that people were too often penalized and morphed into criminals when they should have treatment options available for their disease. This resonated with the team of speakers as it reflects their mission as well. Carson felt that having a young and passionate student on the frontline would be vital to diversify their roster, bolstering a stronger, more unifying coverage to care-front the epidemic. Walters agreed.

“I told him I would get him hooked up with the legislature because I said that very thing he talked about. That is exactly what we’re trying to address right now,” Walters said. “People are so stuck in the punishment mentality. We have massive incarceration rates in the country; Alaska is number 2 on the list.”

Carson said he plans to have a “political arm” for the Opioid Task Force- to make testimonies, write letters, advocating.

“I do that already,” Walters said.

Carson replied, “We are going to get you more people. I’m gonna’ throw that out at the Task Force meeting.”

One of the toughest obstacles for making a positive change in the wave of opioid addiction is fighting the negative stigma, both for the addicts and their families. A mother of an opioid addict was on the panel of speakers. Her son was recently arrested due to his addiction. She said she caught a lot of negative attention on social media groups like Stop Valley Thieves. She said people were commenting insensitive things like “where was his parents?”

“We were there for him!” she said. “As a mom, I can’t tell you the pain I have.”

She was under severe distress over this whole dilemma in the mix of it being the anniversary of her son’s death and yet another doctor’s appointment to see if she will need further medical treatment. She did not want her name to be revealed for this article. What can be said is by looking at her track record, one could find a slew of community support and charitable efforts she does around town. As far as credibility goes, she is a former parole officer so she knows a great deal about the cycle of addiction through her former clients.

“She’s not ready to have her name in the paper, but she’s getting there. The more people that tell their story, you can break down the stigma,” Carson said.

The panel speakers all said that for the brain to heal is a long journey and is not an overnight process.

“Addiction is a disease. It’s a brain disease. It changes your brain. It hacks it and whacks it. These kids need to know that. They need to know that upfront,” Carson said.

Being at the high school reminded Walters of her time there. Something she felt would greatly help students fight the stigma and get help would be to establish a school group or club dedicated to talking about addiction, “similar to what A.A. and N.A. does but on a more student level.” She said it would also need a peer support specialists on site, someone who knows the struggles of addiction first hand.

“Trying to get somebody to understand that- you know it’s not just as easy to say well I’m just gonna’ stop. The brain needs to be rewired. … putting somebody in an environment that is going to be teaching them classes, coping skills, dealing with the trauma and the underlying issues that lead to the addiction,” Walters said.

“Dan Sullivan said we can’t arrest our way out of this,” Caron said. “He also said that if it were an Ebola epidemic there would be a completely different response. It will be a full court press: national, state, local.”

Dr. Alter said a few years ago, he pronounced five people dead from overdose in short time. This was an eye opening experience for him and he decided to join the Opioid Task Force and help educate fellow doctors about overprescribing opiates. He described the epidemic as an “evil scourge on our society.”

He said one of the major factors leading to the epidemic was the systemic over-prescription of opioid medication. Doctors were pressured to prescribe them under the threat of termination. Pharmaceutical companies lobbied to get their products across the nation.

“There’s a lot of money to be made from selling opiates- legally,” Alder said. “It became an expectation in our society to take opioids for discomfort.”

Alter noted how that mentality has been changing and doctors are not overprescribing as much. He said part of the problem is that society has a tendency to try to avoid pain. He said opioids do have their purpose but not for a cough or sore neck. He said that “pain is a part of life” and society needs to learn how to deal with it head on.

“I don’t mind stepping on your toes because I don’t want to stand on your grave,” Soderstrom said. For the addicts, the families, the doctors, the lawyers, the police- everyone involved with the opioid epidemic is going to take on this big problem with small steps in the mantra modeled in recovery groups: “One day at a time.”

“It’s seriously attacking our youth. I think it needs to get done more often. I think there needs to be a safe place for these individuals to just walk in and get the support from the schools. When you have a youngster that can relate to somebody and understand what they’re going through and be able to walk them through that. That makes a huge difference,” Walters said.

The Opioid Task Force will have another showing of Chasing the Dragon and panel discussion at Wasilla High School on Nov. 7 from 4 to 6 p.m.

For more information about the groups in the article, call: 907-982-HOPE for Fiend to Clean, 907-815-SAVE for Fallen Up Ministries, 907-373-HELP for MyHouse, and 907-315-8800 for Narcotics Anonymous.