{"id":250,"date":"2015-06-27T01:24:52","date_gmt":"2015-06-27T05:24:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/?p=250"},"modified":"2015-06-27T09:36:06","modified_gmt":"2015-06-27T13:36:06","slug":"getting-a-grip-on-heroin-addiction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nehsjc.org\/zephyr\/getting-a-grip-on-heroin-addiction\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting a Grip on Heroin Addiction"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Photo<\/a>

Photo courtesy Matthew Ganem.<\/p><\/div>\n

By Alex Schley<\/strong><\/p>\n

At age 19, Matthew Ganem fell into a two-year nightmare of heroin addiction, leading him in and out of jail. He said he lost everything.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought I was going to die a heroin addict,\u201d said Ganem, a father of two.<\/p>\n

Like many addicts, Ganem didn’t see a way out. Because he had little assistance, there were few opportunities to break free.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you talked to my mother or father, they were ashamed of it,\u201d said Ganem, recounting the difficulties many addicts face.<\/p>\n

Nearly a decade later, he is nine years sober. And now, he is working to help fellow addicts recover from their addiction – and erase the stigma it carries.<\/p>\n

Ganem is part of a growing movement to confront the heroin epidemic head on.<\/p>\n

Three months ago, Boston Mayor Martin Walsh created the Office of Recovery Services, which will focus specifically on addiction and recovery. Walsh has close ties to the epidemic, having lost several close friends to addiction, and having fought his own battle with alcoholism.<\/p>\n

He said in an interview that the endeavor is personal.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of people I know are active out on the street. I know a lot of people that have passed away from addiction,\u201d \u00a0he said.<\/p>\n

Also, recently, Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker released his own plan to address the opioid crisis, vowing \u201c<\/b>to change the way the Commonwealth treats and even thinks about substance addiction.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said in a press release that there is not \u201ca one-size-fits-all approach,\u201d and conquering the disease will, \u201crequire all of us to rethink the way we treat addiction.\u201d Baker approved $27.8 million in the 2016 budget year to combat the epidemic, an increase from the $20 million that was funded two years ago.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile in Gloucester, law enforcement is attempting to redefine its role in the crisis with a new program to get addicts off the street.<\/p>\n

\u201cAddiction is a disease, not a crime,\u201d said Gloucester resident John Rosenthal, who co-founded a nonprofit that provides addicts resources to combat the problem. \u201cWe\u2019re not going to arrest our way out of this. We\u2019re going to try to get addicts into treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n

Under the Police Assisted Addiction and Recovery Initiative adopted in Gloucester, anyone seeking help at a police station will be sent to a treatment center rather than a jail.<\/p>\n

Twenty-three addicts went to the police station in the first three weeks of the program. Each of them are currently in programs, according to Rosenthal.<\/p>\n

Addicts like Ganem endorse the movement to erase the stigma of addiction by confronting the epidemic.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone is worth it,\u201d said Ganem, who uses poetry to connect with his fellow addicts. \u201cEveryone who is struggling…you still deserve a chance at getting clean.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of the people Ganem works with is Keith Laporta, a recovering addict who he met in jail, and connected with through poetry.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s true life stuff. Stuff that I\u2019ve been through, stuff that a lot of us have been through,\u201d said Laporta, who has been sober for six months. \u201cHis writing inspired me to save my own life.\u201d
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