“Drugs don’t discriminate, and neither does alcohol,” Sarah Laros said.
The Upper Valley native knows that firsthand. The 27-year-old health and wellness coach is a former addict who says she is approaching the fourth anniversary of her sobriety.
Laros is one of several diverse voices coming together for a panel discussion on opiate addiction in Vermont next week in White River Junction, convened by VTDigger.
Opiate addiction rates in Vermont have ballooned in recent years. Recent statistics from the Department of Health show that opiate painkillers continue to be a consistent factor in drug overdose fatalities, while heroin- and fentanyl-related deaths are on the rise.
The revelation of the breadth of the issue has mobilized community members, medical professionals, the criminal justice system and others. Four others with special expertise will join Laros on the panel Wednesday.
Dr. Mark McGovern, a professor of psychiatry at Dartmouth College, specializes in addiction. He was part of a team from Dartmouth that worked with the state of Vermont to build out treatment options in the face of the ballooning rates of opiate dependence in recent years.
Vermont’s response to the opiate crisis has been very forward-thinking in many ways, he said.
“Relative to how other states have responded, we’re kind of leading the country,” said McGovern.
McGovern said he’s seen many small, rural practices mobilize to play a role in treating patients with opiate use disorders. But he also sees areas where parts of the medical system could better engage to try to improve treatment. Large hospitals could play a bigger role, for instance, he said.
Medication-assisted therapy is an important tool, he said, but it’s not a silver bullet. It’s one tool in a much broader effort.
Renee Davis, the substance abuse and criminal justice program director at Clara Martin Center, said the response to the opiate addiction epidemic in Vermont needs to be wide-ranging, incorporating many players from many different perspectives.
Opiate addiction affects people across the population, from a diversity of backgrounds, she said.
“These are our neighbors, these are our teachers,” said Davis. “The roots are deep.”
Davis works with people at the intersection of the criminal justice system and the substance abuse treatment system. That involves providing case management for offenders leaving prison, as well as interfacing with local probation and parole services.
“It can’t just take the one treatment provider or the one doctor to address this issue,” Davis said. To meet the needs of the community, she said, “We need to work together, and outside of our silos we tend to be placed in.”
Annie Ramniceanu, who heads the state’s pretrial services program within the Department of Corrections, said opiate addiction is prevalent in the corrections population.
The pretrial services program, created by the Legislature in 2014 and rolled out last year, aims to divert more people from the criminal justice system into treatment for substance abuse and mental health issues.
Ramniceanu said Gov. Peter Shumlin’s 2014 State of the State address on opiate addiction “uncloaked” the issue and that the administration has taken many steps to try to address the problem at a state level.
While opiate addiction presents a big challenge, Ramniceanu said it is important to be hopeful. The state should stay committed to existing efforts to curb addiction and be open to trying other new initiatives, she said.
“We are doing a lot, and it’s going to take time,” Ramniceanu said. “We need to be patient, and we need to keep leaning into this.”
Bess O’Brien, the filmmaker behind the acclaimed documentary “The Hungry Heart,” has watched drug addiction move in cycles.
Ten years before she turned her camera on opiate addiction in “The Hungry Heart,” she made a film focusing on heroin addiction in the Northeast Kingdom.
“You have to go to the root of the problem, and to me the root of the problem is that people don’t feel good about themselves,” O’Brien said.
O’Brien said she sees a shortage of programs and resources that help people feel fulfilled and engaged — things like jobs, community outreach and housing.
“All of these things are the systemic problems for why we have such a huge drug epidemic,” O’Brien said.
She has toured the film around Vermont and the rest of the country. Through discussions with audiences and experts on her travels, she’s seen the value in talking about addiction and sharing stories about addiction.
“People are struggling with this issue everywhere, and people are looking for ways to talk about it and raise consciousness about it,” O’Brien said.
Laros, the Upper Valley resident, started speaking publicly about her experience six months after she became sober.
She said telling her story and speaking to others about her own addiction and recovery was an important outlet.
“I found a passion of mine that I could literally give myself to,” Laros said. “With that, it helped me stay sober.”
VTDigger is inviting the public to submit questions in advance of the forum, which can be done here.
