 Donald, your host for Vote for Vermont, where our tagline is listening beyond the soundbites. Much different show today for you. Ben Kinsley, who's the co-host of the show, is not able to join us today. But with me is Ed Baker, host of Addiction Recovery Channel, out of Channel 17, Town Meeting TV. Is that the right thing, Ed? Welcome to the show. Ed and I attended the second annual Opiate Overdose Awareness Recognition Day. That's a long title. We had the state house about last week. And it was hosted by Jolinda Leclerc, who is the director of drug prevention policy, and who oversees and assists the Vermont Opioid Coordination Council. Jolinda was on the show a couple of weeks ago. Hope you caught that show, because it was very interesting. When Jolinda was on the show a few months ago, she asked Ben and I if we would be interested in doing a series of shows about the various components of opioid crisis that we have here in Vermont. She also asked if we would work with Ed to get it done. And so we all, three of us, agreed. And Ed, just for our viewers, could you talk a little bit about your background and how you started doing your show on Addiction Recovery, which is fascinating. Yes, thank you, Pat. I'm a licensed independent clinical social worker and a licensed alcohol and drug counselor by profession. I've been retired from clinical practice for about five years now. And I've been engaged in public education. The Addiction Recovery Channel, otherwise known as ARC, was a natural response to the gravity of the opioid epidemic and the lethality that we're seeing in Vermont today. The purpose of ARC is to provide current and accurate information to the general public of information specifically related to this brain disease, this brain disorder that we call addiction or substance use disorder. The idea being that if Vermonters have accurate information, their response will be an overwhelming groundswell of compassion for this particular group that suffers from this disease. The ultimate result will be saving lives. This is what it's all about. It's all about saving lives. That's great. Thank you very much. I guess my turn to talk a little bit about myself if I may. I have to read my notes because I've been working too long, I forget. But I spent 25 years in the private sector and 25 years here in Vermont in the public sector. My public sector work included six appointed positions for Governor Snelling, Dean, and Douglas. And I also had four years in the state legislature after I retired from state government. I've been hosting this show, Vote for Vermont, for two years. And I partnered with Campaign for Vermont, which is how I met Ben Kinsley, who is my co-host and co-producer. And the intent of this show is similar to EDS. It's to educate, not specifically on addiction, but to educate about key issues that are happening here in Vermont. And we throw in a few public interest shows along the way. My private sector experience, which most people really don't know about, I spent 20 years in a pharmaceutical, agriculture, and dye stuffs chemical company. Worked for those 20 years in the legal department and spent a great deal of time dealing with issues involving adverse drug reaction and chemical interaction with the products that we were dealing with. So I can at least pronounce some of the chemicals. So there you go. And Ed and I have been working with Jolinda Leclerc. As I said before, we've got eight programs that we will be doing over the next couple of months. And Ed, could you explain the four that you're working with? And then I'll jump in with my four. I will. But first, let me just say what a pleasure it is to be working with you and Ben. Thank you so much for including me in this most important effort. Well, I'm glad Jolinda matched us up. This is good. Yeah. You know, my four segments, all seven or eight segments actually, including the wrap-up, are all interrelated. So we would encourage our viewers to really set aside the time to actually try to really view all eight segments. My four segments are basically the science of brain disease. What is it when we call addiction brain disease? This will be explained in general lay terms so people can really understand what this concept of brain disease is all about, addiction as a disease. My second show will be on treatment, some of the current hopeful positive outcomes that we're seeing from treatment. My third show will be on recovery supports and recovery strategies over the lifespan. People need to recover from addiction and receive supports over the lifespan. And my fourth and final show will be on different aspects of prevention that are being implemented in Vermont. That's great. Thank you. Mine are a little bit more up my alley because it's an enforcement, which I was very involved in in the state government. My second one is wellness, a very interesting topic. It's about non-pharma pain management and treatment tools, the alternatives to drugs, which have just expanded dramatically over the years, things that you can do instead of taking those opioids. And then the third one is what we call co-occurring disorders, which when you present yourself with maybe a mental illness and drug abuse, how does the doctor deal with that? And the last one, I'm in charge of the wrap up video, which will take all the key elements of all of the previous seven shows and put them into one show for you. So that's it. Ed, do you want to talk a little bit about how we're going to do all of this? Our shows will be completed by mid-June and will be released at the end of June. Look for this video series under the name of Understanding the Opioid Crisis, Working Together to Create a More Resilient Community. This will be aired on Orca Media, Montpelier, and Channel 17, CalMeetingTV, Burlington. And we actually just said, we don't know what our Jolinda's plans are for getting all of these shows out either, so it may be hopefully way more than just those two channels, correct? Right. I would imagine that lots of stations will. I would imagine I would hope that lots of stations would pick up. So I think she's going to use them in some of her presentations around the state. Yeah. Yeah. This is very, very, very, very exciting. Right. For now, please join us, Governor Scott, and guests. As we share with you some of the various speakers, at the second annual Opioid Overdose Recognition Day held recently in Montpelier, this will help you to understand some of the complexities of the opioid crisis we all face and some of our responses. Thank you for tuning in, and stay tuned for the video series, Understanding the Opioid Crisis, Working Together to Create a More Resilient Community. Great. Thank you, Ed. Thank you very much. Thank you for tuning in. I hope you stay and watch the rest of this video. It's really interesting. It's our little teaser so that you'll check out the other shows that we're doing. In the meantime, I'll see you next week. In the meantime, keep listening beyond the soundbites. I want to thank you all for joining us today for the second annual Opioid Overdose Awareness Day. Incredible turnout and such a great mix of citizens, legislators, leaders who are all looking to fight this challenge. We have one hour to shine a light on the stories of life lived, life lost, and the human connection we see here in Vermont every day. It is that human connection that results in Vermonters with opioid addiction reaching treatment, which is a first step towards recovery. Governor Scott launched the Opioid Coordination Council in January 2017 to improve Vermont's response to our opioid challenges. One year later, the council presented strategies to the governor to strengthen our efforts in prevention, treatment, recovery, and enforcement. And I always want to add education and intervention when we talk about prevention. It takes time for strategies to affect systemic change. And it takes time to change attitudes, behaviors, and the generational cycles of addiction which impact every region of our state. We must share and hear the stories from parents, spouses, siblings, friends, neighbors, and professionals, the stories that make us feel and respond with greater urgency and much greater compassion. Research on brain science, mental health, and substance use disorders has done much to increase public awareness and reduce the stigma attached to addiction. Across Vermont, recovery centers and other community-based organizations host support groups and forums for conversation, often a lifeline of connection with families and loved ones. However, more support in continuous education is needed. Here with us today with the tables around the room are various organizations providing resource materials about opioid addiction as well as training and distribution of the life-saving overdose reversal intervention, Naloxone. Each organization is a key partner in the state's effort to connect resources to Vermonters. We have the Vermont Department of Health, alcohol and drug abuse programs, the Vermont Department of Libraries, Howard Center Safe Recovery Syringe Exchange programs, Vermont Cares, and Espenty Health. And now it is my honor to introduce our governor, Phil Scott, whose conversations with individuals and families at the community door across the state led to his commitment to better coordinate state resources and support a multi-sector collaborative approach to turn this curve. Governor. Thank you, Jolinda, for organizing this event for the second straight year. And thank you to everyone for being here. I think many of us recognize, and by now, nearly every Vermonter has felt the impact of opioids on our families and our state. Addiction is something that's touched every community and family in Vermont in some capacity. And if you don't think it has, it's likely you just aren't aware of it. The devastation the opioid crisis has on Vermont families is heartbreaking. And progress feels elusive at times. As I said in my state-of-the-state address, our success will be counted one life at a time. A young man in recovery going back to work, a mother seeing the light in the eyes of a child once thought lost forever. A community free from fear of crime and violence. And one less child brought into this world affected by addiction. This will be success. Vermont has been a leader in addressing this crisis like the public health crisis it is. But our work is far from over. The availability of cheap and increasingly dangerous drugs like fentanyl continues to present enormous challenges. While opioid related deaths are leveling off in Vermont, they are still far too prevalent with over 100 per year. But deaths involving fentanyl have increased by more than a third from 49 in 2016 to 67 deaths in 2017. The complexity of this crisis and the toll it takes is difficult to get a handle on with new challenges like the emergence of fentanyl underscoring how hard progress can be. My administration is committed to ongoing efforts on this issue and we approach it, as Jolinda had mentioned, as a four-legged stool, focusing on prevention, treatment, recovery, and enforcement. We know there is no one solution to this crisis. It takes this kind of comprehensive approach and it takes strong partnerships. Some of the partnerships we have forged in this area are represented here today. Community providers, first responders, public health officials, and Vermonters in recovery, all of whom you'll hear from later on. I want to take this opportunity to thank our congressional delegation who have representatives from their offices here today, whose work in Washington and Vermont has helped address this crisis with much needed compassion, expertise, and funding. As Vice Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Senator Leahy has made it a priority to strengthen the work of tackling the opioid epidemic, both in Vermont and across the nation. This year, Senator Leahy shepherded efforts to include 3.3 billion in the federal budget to address opioid treatment, prevention, recovery, and enforcement programs. The Vermont Department of Health will receive at least four million from the state opioid response grant funding contained in this bill, a $2 million increase compared to recent years. It also includes $32 million, a $22 million increase for Senator Leahy's National Anti-Heroin Task Force grant program for which the Vermont State Police has already received $2.7 million since 2015 to expand statewide enforcement efforts. Senator Leahy has repeatedly highlighted Vermont's hub and spoke medication-assisted treatment program as a national model for other states to follow. Representative Peter Welch recently led the efforts for research and development of non-addictive, non-opioid methods of treating pain. 500 million was included in the appropriations bill specifically for this research. Representative Welch has also helped develop and advance the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act in the 21st Century Cures Act to provide support and funding for Vermont. This included $1 billion in grants to states, localities, and service organizations working on the front lines of this epidemic. Finally, Senator Sanders helped lead the fight in Congress to reauthorize funding for community health centers, which are key partners in Vermont's efforts to combat the opioid crisis and they provide medication-assisted treatment and behavioral health care regardless of the person's ability to pay. Senator Sanders has visited schools throughout Vermont and discussed the opioid crisis. Believing students are key to our success in tackling the opioid crisis in the country and can help us find a way forward. In talking with these young people, he has heard firsthand how important it is that we not just deal with drugs and alcohol addiction, but all the incidents of depression, anxiety, and other mental health challenges that students are experiencing today. While we may be a small state who are lucky to have an influential delegation who knows the challenges of the communities they represent, and while we have made incremental steps, we are still seeing a rise in opioid-related deaths. They're just not increasing at a slower rate in year-over-year comparisons. Opioid addiction affects so many lives, and I can't tell you how much I appreciate the courage and leadership of those joining us here today to share their stories in an effort to help others and to really make a difference. You demonstrate why we must continue this battle against an epidemic that reaches every corner of the state. So I thank you again for being here, sharing your experiences, and at this time I'd like to invite another commissioner of health, Dr. Mark Levine, to offer further comments. Yes, we're just about good afternoon. I've had the opportunity and the privilege to know some of the individuals we're here to acknowledge today, both in my medical practice life and in my current position as your health commissioner. Those who have survived their addiction and at times an accidental overdose. And yes, I have known some who we have lost to an overdose tragedy. And I've known too many friends and families of Ramoners who have suffered from opioid use disorder. Those who have had to live their lives walking on eggshells, facing the daily challenges of a loved one slipping deeper into the trail of thralls of addiction, ever fearful of the phone call during bad news. As well as those who could celebrate their loved one's successful recovery. Importantly, I've also been able to observe the sometimes slow but still wondrous process of these family members and afflicted people who have worked their way to recovery, who eventually find the strength and resolve to not only move forward with their lives, but who give back to their communities and to all of us. By sharing their experiences and stories, and yes, their pain, but also support, we gain insights into what we as policy makers and fellow Vermonters can do to roll back the impact of opioid use disorder. I'm looking forward to the comments that will be shared today. And ask that you pay close attention because the stories illustrate how Vermont takes a comprehensive approach to help those who are addicted get into treatment to succeed in their recovery and how from pain can emerge hope. For the few minutes I have to speak, I'd like to emphasize three points. First, the importance of having a menu of harm reduction strategies. These take the form of drug disposal programs, sharps collections, alternatives to incarceration through family and drug courts, and syringe service programs that are community-based programs that provide access to sterile needles and syringes free of cost. The four syringe programs with operations in nine counties are an excellent example of the multifaceted approach to prevention and treatment. These programs reduce the transmission of blood-borne pathogens like HIV and hepatitis virus among people who inject drugs. They provide important overdose education and preventive services. And most importantly, they offer a personal and empathetic contact to help connect people with treatment when they are ready to take that step. The programs also complement our successful naloxone distribution, which in concert with our Good Samaritan Laws and the standing order that I sign annually for pharmacies to provide access to anyone who wants to supply our efforts at work. Just last week, the U.S. Surgeon General recommended that more people keep this life-saving intervention on hand. The distribution of over 20,000 naloxone kits to the public in our state and to first responders have contributed to well over 1,000 Vermont lives saved. My second point, waiting for treatment in Vermont is merely a relic of the past and we must not lose sight of this goal. At this time, anyone with active addiction who seeks treatment should not have a waiting list stand in the way. Almost no other state can say this. This along with novel strategies being piloted, such as initiating treatment with buprenorphine in the emergency department and having peer recovery coaches with lived experience on site and emergency departments and in recovery centers so that their expertise, support, and assistance are available at the moment when it can be most effective, should further decrease the likelihood of overdose and overdose death and enhance the opportunities for successful recovery. And finally, the hope that prevention can bring. We can make, if only, a reality. For many, we can't turn back the clock. I wish we could. But we are implementing policies and strategies that will help future generations avoid developing this disorder in the first place. We're experiencing great success with the new prescriber rules and the education and conversations that now routinely occur in the healthcare setting. Along with the use of the Vermont prescription monitoring system, these have resulted in a 25 to 35% decrease in prescriptions, morphine milligram equivalents since July. And on the public level, we continue messaging campaigns, speaking to our most susceptible youth populations on the media platforms they commonly use. And we're augmenting efforts in schools with curricula and substance abuse professionals and in communities with mobilization of coalitions and state support of parent child centers where screening efforts take place. So please, when you leave here today, remember three things. Remember and honor the stories, both the fortunate as well as the unfortunate. Play a personal role in understanding the impact of addiction on the brain and in decreasing stigma. Those with addiction face enough challenges. And be hopeful that we are indeed getting ahead of this crisis and can focus on prevention and recovery to even greater extents. I'd now like to welcome Prescott Nado of the Williston Fire Department to provide some insight into what our first responder community is seeing in the field. Thank you, Commissioner Levine, Governor Scott, honored guests. Good afternoon. The first time you save someone's life as a firefighter or an emergency medical technician, it gives you a sense of elation that is hard to describe. The many hundreds of hours you've put into training and the many hundreds more you continue to put in for recertification and education have finally paid off as you realize that the interventions that you performed, they did in someone being returned to their life and to their loved ones again. The person whose face was just moments ago blue and lifeless now has both life and color. This job is thankless in many regards. Therefore, we are not expecting our patients to suddenly open their arms and throw them around us in praise and thanksgiving. One thing we are expecting even less, however, is the occasional reaction. The initial reaction of surprise and confusion when we give an overdose victim Narcan can rapidly change to frustrated anger, embarrassment, or pure fright. We haven't saved their life. We've ruined their high or brought them back to reality and a scary one at that. Once they realize the enormity of their situation, the volley of excuses descends like a heavy blanket of despair. What are you talking about? I was just sleeping. I'm really tired. Leave me alone. The truly unfortunate thing is that for the most part, we have to do just that. Leave them alone. I once helped revive a young man who was passed out on the Interstate 89 off ramp in Williston. This means that mere minutes ago, he was barreling down the Interstate at 65 miles an hour and peered out of his mind. The man was minutes away from causing a potentially catastrophic crash that may not have only cost his own life, but those around him as well. While in his case, there was a good outcome. We were able to bring him to the hospital. Many more choose to go about their business and refuse our further care. My colleagues tell me heartbreaking stories. Stories of overdose victims they revived once only to be called back a second and even a third time in the same day. The desperation in the man's mind must have only been rivaled by the frustration in the firefighters' hearts. Stories of a mother and father whose addiction to a drug caused them to jeopardize the one thing keeping them together, their child. Stories of failed attempts to revive friends we once knew in school who had promise and a future. Cut down by an enemy we feel helpless to control. We do not do this job for praise. We do this job for the people. People of all backgrounds. As we were learning every day, these drugs know no boundaries, age, gender, socioeconomic status. These words are just stereotypes for an evil that affects us all. The hardest thing that many first responders will tell you is acknowledging that we can only help them so much. You see, in a perfect world, we would swoop into the scene, intervene with life-saving treatments and bring every patient back from the brink of death. They would then have a gut check that they were nearly clinically dead and with the help of a successful rehabilitation program, be brought back to being a productive member of this great state. But until things change on a few different levels, we know that we are not in a perfect world. So until then, we will continue to respond and we will continue to revive as many as we possibly can with the hope, however faint it may seem at times, that they will be okay. At this time, I'd like to introduce our next speaker, Representative Anne Pugh of South Burlington. Representative Pugh is the Chair of House Human Services Committee and a National Council of State Legislatures Oveoid Fellow. Representative Pugh. Thank you, Governor. Thank you, Commissioner, and thank you, Prescott. I stand here as a legislator, one of 150 House members who is working every single day on this and other issues. We are working to remove the barriers and to let all of you who are doing the work and whether it is in a program because you yourself are wrestling or whether it is you are doing the work to help people who want to leave. I've been a legislator for more than 20 years and with then Senator Jim Letty, I helped when Governor Dean was Governor. The two of us helped bring legally methadone treatment into the state of Vermont. One of the first bills that I reported on the floor of the House was the Syringe Exchange Program. Harm reduction strategies are the ones that really need to happen. I'm really honored to be a part of this gathering and feel a little unworthy. Around here are you all doing the work and I'm looking at my committee who does the work. I'm looking at members of House Judiciary who are doing the work, House Institutions who are doing the work and appropriations every single day. The impact of opioids have on the lives of families and loved ones and the work towards effective prevention and intervention and treatment and recovery supports is what this is all about. It's what the governor talked about. It is what Commissioner Mu talked about and it's why we're here. Sadly, as I said, this is not a new issue to me or any of the members of the General Assembly. It's a problem we all know. It's a problem those of us who serve as legislators either know personally from our family or through our constituents and in our communities. And as legislators it is through testimony and quite frankly through the stories that we hear informally through the hallways. And I want to assure people that while progress may be slow and while you may be frustrated and say why haven't we fixed it, our committee and every single member of the legislator is working on it. However, you're not here to listen to me and the best way that we can learn about the crisis of opiate use and abuse in our state is to listen, to really listen to the very people who have lived it with their families, their circle of friends or in their communities. And most importantly to listen, to really listen to those who have personally been down this trail of desperation and found the courage, strength and support to beat the addictive cycle and get on to the road to recovery and reintegration with family and with community. It's with great honor and pleasure that I introduce one of those heroines to you, Kelly Breyer. Kelly is the new mom's recovery program coordinator at the Turning Point Center in Chittenden County and she's the mother of two and she's in long-term recovery. So, Kelly. Thank you very much, everyone. Governor Scott and Joanna for asking me to come and share my story. You know, today is one of the days in the house where elected officials are reminded of what's happening in the communities they represent. Today's focus on overdose awareness, thank you. It's one day here in the house, but it's been a reality that I've lived since I've gone into recovery, which was actually five years ago, but I only have a little over three years of sobriety. Relapse. I like to point that out because I considered myself a person in recovery when I took the action and used the supports to get into treatment to try to save my family. I wanted to get healthier for my children. I was very aware of what my addiction was taking from me and I was lucky enough at the time, this was right when things were changing, when Vermont was becoming more aware of what supports were needed to help people in recovery and that was back in 2013. I had my assessment at the Lund Center and was quickly put on a plan to go to Act One Detox in downtown Burlington. I went straight from there to Maple Leaf Farm for 25 days. The usual stay right now for insurance is 14 and that is just way too short. And I transitioned right from Maple Leaf Farm into the Lund home. I successfully graduated that program within five months. I, yes, however, faked my way through the whole thing. I was there for treatment the first day I was there. I had another resident there ask me if I was deaf. I can make things look good if I'm not being truthful with what's going on inside. Once I got to the Lund home with my daughter, her father went into treatment. He was there for a couple of days and left. He went right into another recovery center and things were looking good. He stayed for the 14 days, got into a sober living situation and we were really trying to work hard at our recovery. But we didn't realize the toxicity between us just was not repairable. And I started taking the steps after I graduated the first time from Lund to try to get back to where I was before. I was comparing my life before addiction became a part of my life and it just doesn't work that way. I got off the benefits right off the bat. I had this whole year plan. I was gonna go back to nursing. I was a nursing professional in the community and that just was not a realistic goal. And within eight months, her father had been in and out of treatment. He struggled over and over and I ended up having a relapse. There was a story that I was told from someone in AA that always resonated with me and she had a brother that she found who had overdosed on his relapse that quickly and we hear that a lot at the recovery center. And I always had a premonition that if I were to relapse, that would happen to me. And three days into my relapse, I overdosed. The person who I was with, I woke up. I was soaking wet. I had a tremendous migraine and I didn't believe him when he said he had been trying to revive me for about two hours. I said, why didn't you call 911? Like, you know, if I was that bad, why didn't you get me some help? And the fear at the time was that if there was someone responding that he would get in trouble, that there would be consequences. So in order to save my life from relapse, he would have had to jeopardize his addiction. This is what addiction does in your mind. I quickly, at that time, I thank God that I'm here today and was able to make the call back to Lund and let them know within a month's time of my relapse that I needed help and got back into the Lund Center for the second time. And I really dug in that time. I realized and totally ratted myself out. I'm like, I learned everything. I put it in my back pocket in case I needed it. When I really needed it, I didn't use it. Thank you, Kelly. Next, I'd like to introduce Senator Joe Benning from Caledonia County, who is the vice chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee and on the Education Committee. Senator. Good afternoon. Wonderful turnout, and I wanna thank Jolinda especially. I was told when I came in that if you needed to have an organized celebration of any kind, Jolinda is your go-to person. Now, having thanked her, I want to say, what's the big idea of making me follow that story? As many of you know, you see me around here all the time, but some of you don't know that I am also a practicing criminal defense attorney. And 34 years ago this week, I was sworn in at the Supreme Court to take my role as what has been now a three decade plus role as a criminal defense attorney. And I am on what is known as a conflict or contract with the Defender General System, which means that if the public defenders in my neck of the woods has a conflict of interest, the case comes immediately to me. And that will become a little more pertinent to the conversation in a moment when I tell you about some of the stories that I've been experienced with. My last weekend is the classic example. When I leave here on Friday, I begin my legal work that takes me through Friday night, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday I'm usually in court. And with 30 years of brownie points with the court clerks, they decided to let me actually do this legislative job, but make me pay for it on Monday by lining up all of my court cases on that day. Saturday, I was supposed to have a two hour meeting with a client. And this was the fifth time I have tried to meet with that client. And I sat all day, Saturday in my office, luckily having other things to do, but knowing that that client would not show up again. And unfortunately, I know exactly why that client was not showing up. On Monday, I got to the courthouse and I had several cases on tap, one of which was a conflict from the public defender's office that they conflicted out of because they represented the confidential informant that led to the prosecution of my client. And as my client and I were sitting there in the courtroom waiting for our case to be heard, the confidential informant was brought into the courthouse. We had learned who that person was and she had violated her conditions by being under the influence of you know what. As we sat throughout the rest of the day, I had another client who was somebody I had just met for the first time and who was charged with impeding a police officer, but the act of impeding was done in a situation where the man she was with that evening died of a fentanyl overdose. And as a result of action, she took after that in the excitement, if I call it excitement, that's not really the proper word, but in the heat of the moment, if you will, she took some steps for which she's now being charged for hindering the police in their investigation. When I started this so many years ago, the words naloxone and opioid crisis would not have been out of vernacular at all. And when I first heard the word naloxone, I thought to myself, what are we trying to accomplish by saving someone? And unfortunately that opinion was shared by a lot of my constituents. But the more I thought about it, the more I recognized that if we have any compassion as a society at all, we have to learn to start rescuing folks, not leaving them by the wayside. So I was very happy to become part of the process of enacting the naloxone bill that first came through this building many years ago. And quite frankly, I thought at the time that at most we might have a few people saved as a result. And I am astounded, absolutely astounded to know the number of individuals who have actually had their lives saved through that drug. And you heard a moment ago a story about the partner of someone being reluctant to call the police because they were afraid they were gonna get prosecuted in that set of circumstances. I'm also very happy to say that I was part of the bill making process that alleviated that ability for the police to prosecute someone in that situation if they take the steps to make a rescue call. I am a resident of Caledonia County. My primary newspaper is the Caledonian Record and I have become so accustomed to reading obituaries that read so and so died at home. And I look at the age and I know immediately what happened. There's no language about illness, no language about being in the presence of family members. That's code for somebody who has had an overdose and has died. And I am very upset every time I see one of those because we have a long way to go to eradicate this plight on our society. So hi, my name's Ken Sixbury and this is the first time I've ever done anything like this. So I was struggling last night at the dinner table with my wife about this speech on what I should do with. And she's kind of my anchor. So what she said, what she said, less of this and more of this. So I mean, she's always been there for me. We've been married now 38 years and she's always said when I was struggling with my opiate addiction that she couldn't go through hell with me but she could wait on the other side. So with that being said is basically, I'm the Executive Director of the Attorney's Point in Bennington. I was also fortunate enough to be appointed to the Governor's Opiate Council. And one thing I do every time I go to the council meetings is I have this little thing I say to myself and you may recognize it but it's the we version of the serenity prayer. So I always say, God grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, the courage to change the things we can and the wisdom to know the difference. So that always helps me big time. So I want to thank the Governor of the Opiate Council which the Governor had led me joined, Joe Linda and Rose, thank you. The Vermont Association of Mental Health and Addiction Recovery. The Vermont Recovery Networks, especially Sarah Monroe. Thank you Sarah. All the Turning Point Directors, Staff volunteers. Can't do it without volunteers. And the FedUp Group in Manchester that we've recently been working with. So most importantly, I'm an opiate addict in long-term recovery. This disease has a special meaning to me because it has personally touched my life. I understand personally how it feels when opiate addicts grab a hold, when opiates grab a hold of you and first make you feel like it's the answer to all your struggles. You go through life, then later slowly painfully it takes everything that you hold dear to you. The recovery centers in Vermont are having to evolve to deal with these issues. We're going out to our communities, letting the public know we are ready and available to help them to take the steps to start the healing process. This disease is destroying an entire generation. This disease is obliterating families. This disease is killing Vermont children, our children. I see moms and dads coming in this center to get in our can, feeling embarrassed because of the stigma in our community who feel they have to explain why they're there by telling their painful story or what has brought them there, usually bringing them to tears and wanting to know why it's happening. I see young addicts coming in just so sick and tired of being sick and tired and crying themselves, saying they don't want to do this anymore but can't get away from it. We at the center can help. You can drop in any time we are open. You don't need an appointment, it doesn't cost anything. We help you find all the help that the state has to offer whether you're an addict or a parent. And it is the empathy that we have by us being peers, having had walked the path of addiction ourselves in living proof that recovery works. We are mobile in our communities. We are going to the schools. We're having youth forming their own recovery communities. We have parents and loved ones coming together for support. We are getting support from our governor through trying to find more funding even though it looks like there's nothing left through formation of the OPA council supporting our recovery coach programs, supporting recovery housing because when people who are struggling get out of treatment, the only place they have to go is back to the same people places and things that have brought them there. And we have to get our message out about stigma. I say yes, when someone asks me to argue that drugs are a choice, I say yes every time. But you know, what's not a choice is the constant call of the drug, the cravings. That we who suffer from substance use disorder have to deal with for the rest of our lives. So I'd like to thank you for listening to me today. And I'd like to introduce Tom Anderson who's one of the tri-chairs of the OPA council and also the commissioner of public safety. Thank you. I was thinking about this, that law enforcement is speaking last and you know what, that's appropriate because I am on the supply side of this equation. There's a demand side of this equation and there's a supply side of this equation. And I am on the supply side of this equation and ending the supply of this is not the answer. It is about demand reduction. And everybody you've heard from today, treatment provider, treatment recovery and prevention, those are the areas that will ultimately solve this problem. Not law enforcement and not trying to reduce the supply of these drugs. It will be nice when we don't have to have an opioid awareness day. I wish I could tell you that's one year away or two year away or three years away but I can't tell you that right now. But I can tell you that I think we're making progress. I think in the last year under Governor Scott's leadership we have taken some real steps to try to address the problem both a demand reduction and a supply reduction end. And I think the emphasis has been on demand reduction because law enforcement gets it. We understand that ultimately the solution to this problem is reducing the demand for the people that want this drug and they can become addicted to this drug. That's ultimately how we're gonna solve this problem. So I do think we are making progress and I'm hopeful in a few years we won't need to have an opioid awareness day. I wish I could tell you right now it's gonna be five years away or six years away but I can't. But I do think we're making progress. I think one of the things that Dr. Levine talked about was the reduction in the number of opioids being prescribed. The overprescription prescribing of opioids is what got us into this problem. And the fact that we are now taking steps to reduce the number of opioids that are being prescribed statewide is really I think the first step in bending this curve so that we are reducing the demand for these drugs. I also wanna echo a couple of things that Governor Scott said. One is if this crisis, if this epidemic hasn't touched you, consider yourself really lucky. A couple of years ago I spoke at the funeral of my best friend's son who had died of an overdose of opioids. It was one of the hardest things I think I have ever done in my life. And there are other times where you speak with somebody you haven't seen, a friend you haven't seen for a couple of years. Like it just happened to me recently. You're speaking to a friend for a couple of years saying, hey, how are the kids? And they're telling you about one of their children that's addicted to opioids. It's heartbreaking. I mean, the anguish you see in their faces is just heartbreaking. So it is an epidemic that if it hasn't touched you, consider yourself lucky. And the chances are it's gonna touch you. I also wanna thank the congressional delegation for the support they've given on the supply side, on the ability for us to investigate. There is an ugly underbelly to this epidemic. And that is out of state suppliers that come up here and pedal this poison. And they're not alone. It's just not out of state suppliers that are here. We have, there's infrastructure within Vermont that it facilitates the sale of these drugs. And those are what we're targeting through the type of funding and support we get from the congressional delegation. We'll continue to do that. We have, if there's one bright spot, I think enforcement is an area we do pretty well in this state. And that doesn't happen by accident. It's because of the support from our congressional delegation. It's because of the cooperative nature of law enforcement, whether it's the Newport Police Department, whether it's the Memorial County Sheriff's Office, whether it's the Vermont Drug Task Forces, whether it's the U.S. Attorney's Office, whether it's DEA, FBI. We work closely together with all of our local and federal counterparts to use our dollars and use our ability to investigate these crimes as best we can to reduce the supply as best we can for those drugs coming into Vermont. So thank you all for being here. We have a long road, a long way to go, but I think we are making progress. So thank you. I wanna thank everyone of you in this room today. It is collective impact and collective action that will make us all affect change across prevention, treatment, recovery, and enforcement. And we're doing a lot of things right here. Secretary Gobe, as oftentimes said, we have to celebrate our successes. And I wanna leave you with that note because we are doing much that is turning this curve. Thank you, Governor. Thank you, Representative Pugh. Thank you, Senator Benning. And I wanna thank everybody here on the council and all of the partners because that's what makes the difference. Anybody who has any questions, we will take them after and there will be some people who will stay here. Thanks very much.