Reformed felons Jackson Patterson, left center, and Abby Roach, right center, discuss with families, educators and judicial system members barriers, causes and solutions for addiction at the final opioid forum hosted by Your Voice Mid-Ohio Valley Tuesday in Marietta. (Photo by Janelle Patterson)

Gasps filled the room as one attendee shared the tale of a child affected by the opioid epidemic Tuesday.

“My brother’s cute; he’ll get adopted,” she recalled. “That’s the hopelessness we’re hearing; others are being torn from their home and being sold for sex trafficking and I’m heartbroken; this is my community?”

That impact on family life was echoed over and over again during the final of three Your Voice Mid-Ohio Valley forums.

Your Voice Mid-Ohio Valley is a media collaborative born out of Your Voice Ohio and What’s Next MOV, which encourages journalists of different local organizations to meet in roundtable form and hear from citizens about what solutions and stories they want to read, hear and see.

Sunday through Tuesday night three forums were hosted in Parkersburg, Belpre and Marietta inviting diverse groups to the table to discuss addiction, its causes, impact and potential solutions.

Tuesday night in the crowd were not only local judges, candidates, probation officers and lawyers, but also reformed felons, recovering addicts, teachers, medical professionals and parents of those still facing addiction and legal troubles.

Abby Roach, who has been in recovery for three years after a troubled path with addiction and prison time, spoke face to face with Washington County Common Pleas Judge Mark Kerenyi about the need for recovery specialists to work alongside his goals of a drug court.

“My mom paid thousands for my counseling, but if you’ve never been there you don’t know how to reach that addict,” she explained. “Prison did not get me sober, jail did not get me sober, it was when I was at the point where I was too tired and I broke and women like Geraldine (Mackey) reached me as an addict that I changed.”

Tammy, 60, who asked that her last name not be used, said she and her sister are in the midst of what addiction does to a family. Tammy’s son was caught cooking methamphetamine and served three years in prison; her nephew is still in prison as her sister raises his children.

“Prison saved my son’s life,” she said.

But she noted the difficulties he faces now out of prison, and lauded the accountability he has to have with parole and monthly drug testing.

“That accountability does him good now, and he has the support system to keep him on track,” she said. “He’s a hard worker, but even he said after I talked with him last night about the Belpre meeting, one of the suggestions was just to legalize everything. He said if it were legal he’d go back to doing drugs.”

Another attendee mentioned a lack of incentive for those in the midst of addiction to get off their drugs of choice, “when we can’t get a job anyways with our record.”

This spurred conversation about how journalism and internet access can have a record of wrongdoing follow an individual even after recovery and reentry into society.

Education was also touched on not only for early intervention to prevent children from using drugs, but also for mentors in all forms to know warning signs and have resources available to refer, and for the community at large to see addiction as a mental and genetic issue, not as a moral failing.

“But with whatever program in education you pursue, it has to be evidence-based,” said Dr. Eric Limegrover, who performs assessments for Marietta Municipal Court to aid in drug treatment options for low-level offenders. “Age of first use is a huge factor in these assessments and right now in Marietta age of first use is 13 or 14. If we could even get it up to 16 you could significantly affect whether or not they finish high school, can hold down a job and make it.”

Jackson Patterson, head of the M.O.V. Rebound for Kids program, explained that what he sees with children he works with is similar to how he was raised on the west side of Marietta.

“My father sold drugs and my mom sold drugs. I’m a product of my environment,” he explained, revealing to the crowd that he had once sold drugs and now is working to give back to the community he took so much from. “I was taught the skills to do it.”

But he said now that he is sober seven years and focused on his family and giving his time to bettering his community he hopes to rebuild some of what is broken by addiction.

He invited Kerenyi to play basketball with the children on the west side; others who work in addiction services voiced the need for the successes of recovery to be celebrated and recognized.

John Triplett, a local lawyer in the valley, said he left the meeting enthused and seeing the opportunity the last three forums have provided.

“What I hope that comes out of this is the unique opportunity to do something real; we just passed a mental health levy and a foster levy and people are focused,” he said. “I just hope we don’t blow it.”

Additional questions which were voiced at the meeting Tuesday which media outlets are challenged to answer include, what resources are available:

– For peer support.

– For children affected by drug use in the home.

– For those released from jail and prison to stay sober and reintegrate.

What is the process of expungement of criminal drug records?

What is the process of creating a 501c3 for a small nonprofit to aid in efforts?

What happens when one calls the local crisis hotline (740) 373-8240?

Other resources not outlined Tuesday but that are available locally include:

– Crisis intervention team training for Washington County law enforcement officers and other first responders.

– Mental health first aid courses, open to the public regardless of profession.

Both course options are provided by the Washington County Behavioral Health Board.