Monroe organizations tackling addiction at awareness workshop

Monroe-based organizations Love An Addict and Take the Next Step are working together in hopes of helping families faced with the many challenges associated with addicted loved ones.

The two groups are hosting a Community Drug Awareness and Education Workshop at 3 p.m. on Saturday, March 19, at the Monroe Boys & Girls Club. The free public event features a presentation by Monroe drug and alcohol counselor Stephen Londino, an overview of the heroin epidemic in Snohomish County by county staff and information from the Monroe Police Department on what they're finding in Monroe.

In addition to the presentations, there will be resource tables with representatives from numerous local nonprofits and businesses, including Lakeside-Milam, Sea Mar Community Health, Hope Soldiers, Housing Hope, the Hand Up Project and WorkSource.

The event will focus on recovery, addiction, mental health and drug abuse outreach. People with concerns about drug use in Monroe or addicted loved ones are welcome, along with anyone who just wants to learn more about addiction.

Take the Next Step is a nonprofit dedicated to providing low-income and homeless individuals with meals, clothing and access to resources. Monroe resident Samantha Franklin founded Love An Addict as a way to support families affected by addiction. A 2002 Monroe High School graduate, Franklin knows firsthand what it's like to love an addict; her father struggled with addiction, as do both of her brothers.

"I've always kind of known addiction as loving the addict,GÇ¥ Franklin said. -á -á

Love An Addict seeks to promote the message that "addicts are not the drugs that hold them,GÇ¥ and Franklin has carried her message all the way to Olympia. She founded the group about a year ago, because she wanted to make a positive difference in the community. Watching a family member battle addiction is like watching them die a slow death, she said, and she wanted to be able to provide support to families who might not feel like they have anywhere to turn.

"I'm watching my brothers disappear,GÇ¥ Franklin said. "That's hard to go through in itself, but then to not feel like you have support from other people ' it makes it worse.GÇ¥

Franklin is also trying to raise awareness about the harmful stigma that drug addicts face once they get clean. Addicts in recovery are often trapped in a vicious cycle of rejection based on their prior drug use, which can serve as a barrier when seeking employment or a place to live. The stigma issue is compounded once an addict accumulates criminal history, and can be devastating to a person trying to stay clean.

Once an addict has gone down that path, their success rate in recovery is discouraging, Franklin said.-á -á

"But the ones that do make it out make it worth it to keep going after this fight,GÇ¥ she said.

The Community Drug Awareness and Education Workshop is meant to be multifaceted, said Franklin. As a local drug and alcohol specialist, Londino will be able to give an overview of what addiction actually is, by explaining the way chemicals in drugs like heroin affect and alter brain chemistry. She also hopes to take a hard look at the increase in heroin usage, which she feels is a direct result of the new formulation of OxyContin, a highly-addictive opiate painkiller.-á -á

OxyContin, in its original formulation, was a popular prescription painkiller that became so highly abused that drug companies began seeking ways to create abuse-deterrent versions of the drug. The new formula created pills that could not be crushed, dissolved, injected or smoked, which drove many addicts to heroin as an alternative means for getting what they needed.

Since then, heroin usage has skyrocketed, along with the number of deaths by overdose. Franklin wants to initiate the heroin discussion, she said, because it's an important one.

"It's dominating. It's dominating our town,GÇ¥ Franklin said. "It's dominating Snohomish County, our state, everywhere. It's time for people to start doing something about it.GÇ¥

A January 2015 report released by the Snohomish County Health District confirmed heroin usage is on the rise, with epidemic levels of heroin deaths occurring in Snohomish County. Statistically significant increases were reported among heroin users under the age of 20, with increases reflected in other age categories as well.

"I want people to not be afraid to say the word heroin,GÇ¥ Franklin said. "I'm kind of sick of it being pushed under the rug, because it's here.GÇ¥

Franklin is just getting started, and is looking forward to continuing to spread her message of hope. She has advocated for better drug awareness in schools, and wants to work holistically in the community. She is hoping to implement a Red Ribbon Week in Monroe, a drug and violence prevention campaign held in October to honor murdered DEA Agent Enrique "KikiGÇ¥ Camarena.

Camarena was tortured and killed in Mexico in 1985 while working undercover.-á

Franklin's biggest inspiration for starting Love An Addict is her father, who died from liver failure in 2012.

"I loved him with all of my heart, and he was so much more than the struggle he carried off and on throughout his life,Gǥ Franklin said. "Underneath the struggle of addiction, there are beautifully lost and broken people. Brothers, fathers, sisters, daughters, mothers, sons, friends, cousinsGǪ The best way to help break stigma is to try and personalize it.Gǥ

For more information on Love An Addict, visit www.facebook.com/Loveanaddict/?fref=ts. For more information on Take the Next Step, visit www.ttns.org or www.facebook.com/TheNextStepMonroe.