'Teens & Substance Abuse' topic of community forum on Nov. 29
Former Daniel Island resident Rowe Hicks has reached some pretty dark places in his life. As a recovering substance abuser, he knows all too well how the disease of addiction can ravage not only the user but his or her family as well.
Hicks will be one of seven panelists taking part in a community forum on teens and substance abuse, to be held on Tuesday, November 29, at 7 p.m. at Bishop England High School. At the event, sponsored by The Daniel Island News, he will share his personal story with drugs and alcohol, and also offer hope for those currently struggling.
“It’s important for the people who need help to know that help is out there, whether that is a person struggling with addiction or a person affected by a loved one’s addiction,” said Hicks, a Bishop England graduate now in his third year of recovery. “There is help.”
Also serving on the panel will be Hicks’ mother, Trudy, who will share her insights as a family member of a recovering addict.
“…We fight addiction one person at a time,” said Trudy. “We’re obligated to share our experience so that those hurting will find hope and truth in our story…I want everyone to know that your presence at this forum matters. Your support and commitment to break the social stigma of addiction is imperative for recovery.”
Trudy plans to address a variety of issues, including how the addict’s and the enabler’s diseases mirror each other, signs that she ignored, how to detach and set boundaries with love, and how she found help.
“I believe talking openly about substance abuse is so important to our community,” she added. “…Awareness is critical, education is paramount, and fighting the war on addiction through prevention, rehabilitation, and education is non-negotiable.”
For Bishop England High School graduate Stevie Sullivan, another panelist scheduled to speak at the forum, the story is all too familiar. Like Rowe, she suffered from addiction that began in her teenage years. Today, she works as a counselor at the College of Charleston and in private practice, helping others with mental health concerns. Her message at the forum will be to remind attendees to never give up.
“(I want them to know) simply that recovery is possible, no matter what the circumstances are, no matter what happened,” she said. “Anything is possible. Recovery is possible. Recovery is wonderful and it’s literally a life I never imagined. I am a person I never imagined I would be. I am the best version of myself now - all because of recovery.”
Addiction, Sullivan has learned, can happen to anyone.
“It is possible for anybody to suffer from addiction,” she continued. “…It literally touches anyone. It does not discriminate. It can be a young person, an older person, male, female, lower socio-economic status, upper socio-economic status…It’s a huge problem for everyone.”
Sullivan is looking forward to going back to Bishop England in a much healthier state than when she left years ago.
“I’m very excited to do this,” she said. “I’m humbled to be asked to be part of this. To go back to BE is wonderful because BE really is my teenage years, when my substance abuse started. It’s so cool to be able to go back and share about how my life is now, because it is so drastically different.”
The other remaining forum panelists are Jason Sandoval, Charleston Resident Agent in Charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); Dr. Patrick Duffy, a licensed clinical psychologist with Carolina Family Solutions; Dr. Viktoriya Magid, assistant professor and licensed clinical psychologist at the Center for Drug and Alcohol Programs Clinic at MUSC; and C. Wayne Weart, Pharm.D, Professor Emeritus in the Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Outcome Sciences, MUSC.
Dr. Duffy said he plans to address some of the causes of teen substance abuse, as well as treatment options that have proven to be successful. He also will discuss how problems at school and at home, as well as other issues, can make some teens more susceptible to substance use and abuse. He is especially concerned about the powerful prescription drugs that are readily available in many households.
“Unintentional deaths from opioid pain relievers have more than quadrupled since 1999 and have outnumbered those from heroin and cocaine since about 2002,” noted Duffy. “…I appreciate being asked to be part of this impressive panel and hope people get an understanding of the scope and danger of this problem and how they can avoid, and help others avoid, the often significant consequences associated with using these drugs.”
“The misconception among young people that prescription drugs are ‘much safer’ than traditional drugs of abuse places our youth in jeopardy for the rest of their lives - at best for addiction and its attendant long-term consequences - and at worst, death,” added Sandoval, who has launched a ‘Wake Up Charleston’ campaign to raise awareness of opioid abuse.
According to Sandoval, opioid and heroine abuse has risen to epidemic levels in the Charleston community. Year to date in Charleston County, for example, opioid and heroin overdose deaths are 40 percent higher than the national average, he said, with two months remaining in the year. Another startling statistic provided by Sandoval is that 38 percent of teens admit to abusing prescription drugs obtained from their parents’ medicine cabinet - making the medications the new gateway to traditional drugs of abuse.
“The paradigm that alcohol and marijuana are the first step to the abuse of ‘harder’ drugs has been proven anomalous in the context of the crisis we now face,” he said. “…The opioid gateway can lead to toxic and fatal consequences at an exponentially faster rate than alcohol or marijuana.”
Reaching kids early with a message about the dangers of drugs is paramount and can have lasting effects, added Dr. Magid.
“Talking early to your kids about the harms of drugs and alcohol can lead to a 40 percent chance reduction in their substance use during this period in their lives,” said Magid, who is also director of the MUSC ASSET (Adolescent Substance use Skills Education Training) program. “Parents need to hold firm negative attitudes about substance use and be healthy role models for their teenagers.”
Magid plans to use her time on the forum panel to give parents and teens the tools and confidence to stay safe from drugs and alcohol.
“If we stand united….as a community, we can protect our children from the devastating effects of this epidemic,” she added.”
And there is something else Rowe Hicks would like to impart on those who attend the forum - a hope that through the discussion comes a better understanding not just about the disease of addiction, but about those caught in its grip.
“I am participating in this forum so that someone who needs help may hear something that gives them hope,” he said. “We aren’t bad people. We are just sick - and can recover.”
Teens & Substance Abuse
A Community Forum on Addition and Recovery
Tuesday, November 29, 7 pm to 9 pm
Bishop England High School
Performing Arts Center
363 Seven Farms Drive, Daniel Island
The event, open to all community members, will feature a panel of addiction and recovery experts who will lead a discussion on this important topic, as well as an information fair with participants from a variety of addiction/treatment resources. The information fair will be open beginning at 6:30 p.m. and again after the program. See the ad on page ___ for additional information.