January 13, 2016

Rutigliano, Area Legislators Host ‘Touching’ Community Conversation on Opiate Addiction

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FAIRFIELD-To a packed house in the Martire Center on the Sacred Heart University campus, State Reps. Brenda Kupchick (R-132), Laura Devlin (R-134), Dave Rutigliano (R-123), Ben McGorty (R-122), Cristin McCarthy-Vahey (D-133) with State Senators Tony Hwang (R-28) & Marilyn Moore (D-22) as well as local leaders and police departments from Fairfield and Trumbull, heard heartfelt stories from residents about their experiences with loved ones addicted to opiates and others who offered possible solutions on ways our state can combat the growing opiate addiction epidemic in Connecticut.

The forum which was called ‘A Community Discussion On Connecticut’s Opiate Addiction Crisis’ heard stories from those on the prevention side as well as the addiction side. Legislators listened to mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, and friends of addicts as well as addicts themselves. They also heard firsthand stories from teachers, ministers and a physician.

Reps. Rutigliano and Kupchick moderated the audience questions and discussion which at certain points brought the room to a hush.

Rep. Kupchick said, “So many people have experienced the pain of a loved one addicted to opiates, myself included, sadly some have lost their loved ones to overdoses. Opiate addiction has become a crisis in our community to the degree that I haven’t never witnessed in my lifetime. Some of what I learned from the forum is we need to work on prevention, awareness, communication with our youth, tighter controls on prescription opiates, increased access to quality treatment that’s covered by insurance like any other illness. I also learned we need keep talking.”

Rep. Rutigliano said, “My heart breaks for those who have been touched by this addiction epidemic. I want to thank everyone for coming out and sharing their moving stories because I along with other legislators want to find a substantive way to fight this drug scourge. In the coming weeks, we will be meeting on possible opiate legislation for the new legislative session.”

Some of the major topics discussed were:

Street access to the drugs
Police enforcement
Role of educators
Responsibility of doctors
Funding for addiction services
Youth and parent education
Treatment

In addition to state legislators the panel consisted of the following:

Trumbull First Selectman Tim Herbst
Fairfield First Selectman Mike Tetreau
Fairfield Police Chief Gary MacNamara
Trumbull Police Chief Michael Lombardo
Trumbull EMS Chief Joseph Laucell
HeroinKillCT & Connecticut Heroin Task Force co-founder Theresa Doonan

The Forum will be available on CT-N and Trumbull Community TV for those who were unable to attend.

Due to a scheduling error the CT Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services Commissioner Miriam Delphin-Rittmon cancelled hours before the event.