County and state leaders gathered together Thursday to spotlight the drug addiction crisis in Butler County.
Hundreds of community members attended the forum, which will begin a series of talks meant to educate and inform. The next will be Dec. 8 at Mars Area High School.
Jason Snyder, who is a special assistant to the secretary of the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, spoke first…applauding local officials for realizing Butler is in the “throws of the worst drug epidemic ever.”
Synder is a recovered addict to prescription pain medication himself and lost two brothers to heroin addiction.
“I decided to share my personal story primarily because I wanted to address the stigma that surround addiction…it’s not ‘those people’…it is us,” Synder said.
A number of last night’s speakers applauded the Butler community for showing up to learn about the addiction crisis and find out how they can help.
“I’m so impressed with this turnout, and the fact that all of you care,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Conor Lamb said. “We go to a lot of these events, and this is not what we typically see.”
Statistics show one person dies every week in Butler County from an opioid-related overdose.
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