Mayor Tom Henry’s Youth Engagement Council hosted a seminar over the weekend at Ivy Tech called “Say No to O’s,” a campaign targeted at youth in Northeast Indiana.
The Friday night session was targeted toward middle and high schoolers in the community, and featured local health officials to discuss the life-altering and threatening nature of opioid addiction, overdose and poisoning.
Carolyn Greer is the medical director of the Bowen Recovery Center. She noted to the students in the room that addiction to opioids -- or drugs in general -- isn’t solely based on one’s choices.
“Most people, when they see their friend die using a substance, would not use it. But when you are genetically programmed for that, the risk is higher,” Greer said.
Allen County health commissioner Deb McMahan joined Greer for the discussion, and emphasized that people with an addiction or genetic bias towards it don’t want to bring that into their lives; sometimes they just can’t help it.
“Could you just be taller now? I really think if you added an inch right now, you’d feel so much better. Be taller,” McMahan said jokingly, a counter to asking someone addicted to drugs to “just stop” taking them.
“You have to know when people can control things, and when they can’t, and it’s your job to figure out how to maximize the outcomes that we’re getting,” she said.
Several additional members of the community and law enforcement shared personal anecdotes about their experiences with opioids throughout the evening. It was the first of what the council says will be several throughout the year.
