Indiana Recovery Alliance's overdose awareness vigil on Wednesday, August 31, 2022.
(Sarah Vaughan/WFIU-WTIU News)
A woman who lost her husband just 48 hours earlier; a teenager who misses her father every day; grandparents who lost their beloved granddaughter.
They were among the more than 70 people who came together at Bloomington’s Courthouse Square Wednesday to honor loved ones lost to drug overdoses, saying their names out loud, making memory boards and holding space for each other as part of International Overdose Awareness Day.
Indiana Recovery Alliance organized the vigil, which included education about the emergency use of naloxone, or Narcan, to reverse an overdose.
According to the Indiana Department of Health, overdose deaths in the state rose 41 percent from 2019 to 2020. In Monroe County, overdose deaths more than doubled during that time. Incidences of EMS administered naloxone rose 66 percent for the same period.
A two dose kit of naloxone. (Sarah Vaughan/WFIU-WTIU News)
Substance abuse counselor Ijah McCulley had her first overdose experience at 12, and lost her 22-year-old son James in 2017 to an accidental overdose. McCulley told the vigil attendees her son might have been saved if his friends had known what to do. But by the time they called 911, it was too late, she said.
“What would have made a difference in saving his life would have been people knowing what to do when someone's overdosing, having life-saving equipment like naloxone, and knowing how to administer that,” she said.
“Also, not having fear of being arrested for murder or drugs when the paramedics and police show up to help that individual. And so, his friends left and he lost his life because of fear and not having the proper equipment.”
McCulley urged those at the vigil to educate themselves in the use of naloxone so they might save lives.
Ijah McCulley attended the International Overdose Awareness Vigil in honor of her son, who died of an accidental overdose in 2017. (Sarah Vaughan/WFIU-WTIU News)
Indiana Recovery Alliance works on harm reduction and drug policy transformation.
Executive Director Nicholas Voyles says that includes advocating to reclassify syringe possession – it’s currently a felony -- and for expanding access to syringe services, often referred to as needle exchanges.
Voyles said under current law, only municipal authorities such as county commissioners can contract for the programs. IRA would like to see fewer restrictions on opening such programs.
“I’m just saying having health care laws in the hands of county commissioners and city commissioners does not create better health practices because they’re not the experts,” Voyles said.
IRA also advocates for fewer regulations on medication assisted treatment (MAT), specifically methadone. IRA has partnered with two local treatment centers to offer financial grants, on a case-by-case basis, to those needing help accessing medication assisted treatment.
Frank Young and Sally Jones spoke about their family members lost to drug overdose at the International Overdose Awareness Vigil on August 31, 2022. (Sarah Vaughan/WFIU-WTIU News)
Frank Young and Sally Jones lost their beloved granddaughter Karina in May of 2020. Karina’s fiance, Chris, who Young said was in and out of recovery, died a year later. Like many at the vigil, Young and Jones said they deal with their grief through action and compassion.
A nurse practitioner, Young sought out the required training to become what’s referred to as a buprenorphine waivered practitioner so he can prescribe suboxone – a combination of methadone and buprenorphine used for opioid withdrawal and overall dependency. Jones is a counselor and they both volunteer with IRA.
“If we can save one family from the sorrow we’ve experienced everything will be worth it,” Young said.
Many at the vigil spoke to the need to overcome the stigma associated with addiction, saying it’s a brain disease as opposed to a personal flaw.
“So when people have a disease we don't generally blame them for getting sick --we ask 'How can we help you get well?',” Young said. “That’s exactly what we as a society need to do is recognize this as an illness.”
Jones said people often don’t know how to help those battling addiction.
“But we do know how to love each other and have compassion for others even when we don’t know them,” she said.
