RipLB unites residents in the fight against addiction

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Nora Mulligan’s son, James, is currently in a treatment facility, and has been clean for six months. He was 13 the first time he went to rehab, she said, and his journey to recovery has been a long one, not just for him but for his family as well. She spoke about how hard it was to let him go and let him hit rock bottom, so he would be ready to quit. But the only way to prevent tragedy, like she has seen with so many other kids, is not to be afraid to talk about it, and to get people the help they need.

“We have to get away from the good and the bad — it’s a disease,” Mulligan said. “We have to talk about it and create an atmosphere without shame and stigma.”

David D’Errico, who has been drug-free for almost two years, told the audience about his battle with addiction, from prescription pills to heroin. He was a star athlete in high school before an injury gave him his first taste of pills, and they quickly became a problem. He would steal pills from friends and family members’ medicine cabinets, he said. After his first stint in rehab, he tried heroin, which, he said, changed his life. He had a supportive family that gave him all the treatment he wanted, but it still took him multiple relapses and overdoses to finally decide to quite for good. He is now on course to finish college.

Others spoke about the problems facing treatment centers, like a severe lack of funding, and how to recognize and prevent drug use with kids.

“This is still a huge problem, and it’s not going to get solved right away,” Lebowitz said. “We’re trying to attack it from a lot of angles.”

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