LETTER: Candle Light Vigil at Nunley Park tonight

To the editor:

If you are interested in Narcan training, you can sign up at MyHouse the evening of the Candlelight Vigil. ( 1/10, Nunley Park, 6-8pm. ) Brandi Kinney will have a sign up list that evening. She will take your information and call you when the next training will take place. She will have that sign up list on her desk on the right, as you enter the resource area. Also, there will be ‘Medication Disposal Bags’ available. These bags hold 40 opioid pills. With a cup of water and the charcoal element, it will neutralize the opioids to be safely discarded. Both Narcan Kits and Medication Disposal Bags are from Project Hope and the Governor’s office. Thank you, Governor Walker.

And, I want to thank Karl & Kerby for helping John Green with the Vigil. I will be heading out of State that evening to celebrate my grandson’s fifth birthday. Also, Karl will be facilitating the February Task Force meeting. I will be visiting extended family while out of State. Karl and I have talked about topics to be discussed at the meeting. He has some great ideas to share with the task force. I will send out an agenda as Feb.6th gets closer.

This spring, we will be approaching our third year as a task force. It has been an honor and privilege to chair the Mat-Su Opioid Task Force. I am very proud of our work with our top five priorities. And, especially, the outcomes of the Lazarus Project. Thank you all for your partnerships and collaboration with this new, exciting ambulatory, non-narcotic detox protocol.

Also, a shout out to all the task force members that participated as panelists after the showing of ‘Chasing The Dragon’ in Mat-Su Schools. Our prevention work is not sexy, because moving upstream can be messy. It involves breaking down stigmas and changing cultural norms. But, most importantly, it is all about building relationships, with all community members, which is the hard work, yet vital to turn back the tide of addiction.

So, the good fight continues with the first Candlelight Vigil, Narcan training, and getting out medication disposable bags into the community. As we pause for an evening to acknowledge those loved ones lost to addiction and to break down the stigma of addiction, we keep moving forward. We will be deepening our commitment to end opioid use and abuse to save lives and improve the quality of lives for suffering addicts and their families.

Best to all,

Michael Carson,

Wasilla