White River Junction
The stigma of drug addiction prevents addicts and their families from seeking help and support, MacDonald said.
“It’s behind closed doors. It’s hush-hush,” he said in an interview on Tuesday. “If you know your son is having heroin problems, you don’t talk to your friends and colleagues about it. Well, you should talk to your friends and colleagues about it. People shouldn’t be frowned down upon.”
MacDonald said that after one of the employees at his Sharon-based lawn and landscape company died of a suspected drug overdose in mid-August, he was motivated to raise awareness of a problem that continues to plague the Upper Valley.
The event, held on International Overdose Awareness Day, featured a variety of speakers who each tried to attack, in their way, the obstacles that stand between those addicted to drugs and the help they need to rebuild their lives.
In many cases, drug users are trapped not only by their physical and mental addictions, but by fear — fear that an appeal to friends and neighbors will result in being scorned and shamed, that a call to authorities will trigger an arrest, that having the life-saving overdose treatment naloxone on hand will lead to stigma, or that a treatment program will be financially ruinous.
“We hope to remind people about the Good Samaritan law,” said Hartford police Chief Phil Kasten. “The importance of folks seeking help cannot be overstated, whether it’s by calling for an ambulance or calling for law enforcement. We’re not here to arrest and prosecute drug users. That’s not our intent. Our intent is to connect people with the help that they need.”
Kasten said law enforcement does target dealers, many from out of town, who prey on addicts.
“I’m telling you, they’re not from here,” he said. “And those are the folks that we’re interested in. That’s who we’re putting our enforcement resources on and that’s who we want to bring to justice.”
Kasten recited a list of statistics. The good news is that so far this year in Hartford, the number of reported drug overdoses and drug overdose fatalities is down — 26 overdoses and three fatalities, as compared to 29 overdoses and four fatalities in the first eight months of last year.
The bad news is that heroin use, specifically, is on the rise, with nine overdoses and three deaths so far this year, as compared to five overdoses and one death at this point last year, according to Kasten.
“There are far more victims out here than the folks who have overdosed,” Kasten said. “It has hurt our community and everyone across this region. People are tired of it. They want it to stop.”
As the overcast evening turned slowly to night, many of those who took the stage or stood in the grassy green shared their own stories of how they had been affected by drug addiction.
Hartford resident Ken Gardner announced that he is currently in recovery before launching into a song inspired by his own struggle with drugs.
“I’m living one day at a time,” he sang, “accepting hardship is the pathway to peace.”
“I’m a woman in long-term recovery,” said Sheila Young, a director with the Second Wind Foundation, which offers recovery support services, education and advocacy. “I want to say that out loud, because I’m not ashamed.”
Near the back of the crowd, Chris Simoneau, 29, of West Lebanon, stood on his bike, watching the events on stage with interest.
In an interview, Simoneau said that he grew up watching his older brother use drugs.
His brother eventually lost the capacity to live independently and currently resides in an assisted living facility.
Simoneau was at a loss to say what support services might have helped his brother.
“He stopped caring. He didn’t care about himself,” Simoneau said. “A lot of people stop caring.”
Yvonne Thurston, of South Royalton, said she was friends with the employee whose death prompted MacDonald to organize the vigil.
“I think this will help,” she said as she looked out across the small groups of people who stood shoulder to shoulder in the deepening night. “It shows them that people care.”
Nearby, Dakota Lyman, 18, of Sharon, stood next to Neil Tinker, a mechanic from White River Junction.
Lyman, who is good friends with Tinker’s son, has been six months sober, he said, notwithstanding a frantic call he placed to Tinker from rehab looking to be picked up.
Tinker refused.
“He needed tough love,” he said, as he and Lyman grinned at each other.
Tinker said Lyman was only the latest friend who he feared losing to addiction.
“We know a lot of people who have overdosed,” said Tinker.
Lyman said that as a Hartford High School student, he started abusing prescription medication such as vicodin, and moved on to heroin. It was easy to find, he said — he just called a man from Connecticut who was well-known among his circle of high school friends.
When Lyman got paid for his part-time job, he’d spend the whole $300 on drugs. When his paycheck ran out, he’d get money in any way he could.
“I’d do drugs, pass out, and then wake up eight hours later having no idea where I was, or how I got there,” he said.
He feared that his drug use would cause him to lose his family, which he said gave him the push he needed to ask for help.
The worst part wasn’t the symptoms of withdrawal, he said.
It was his fear of losing his family’s love.
“It was really hard to tell my family,” he said. “I thought no one would be there. But they were.”
The last rays of sunlight disappeared. The stage was lined by paper bags holding candles, casting a soft glow over the individuals in the crowd.
As people began to light their candles, organizers began reading the names of more than 40 people whose lives had been cut short by drug addiction.
Just before a reading of the Serenity Prayer, MacDonald signed off with a seemingly common phrase that carried a subtle weight.
“I hope,” he said, “to see you all next year.”
Matt Hongoltz-Hetling can be reached at mhonghet@vnews.com or 603-727-3211.