YAKIMA, Wash.- As Cristian De La Torre stood in Sarg Hubbard Park on August 31, he was joined by many feeling the same feelings he was as he mourned his loved ones lost to an overdose.
“I also have other friends that are not here today,” said De La Torre, who says he once too suffered from an alcohol and drug addiction. “Counting around 7 or 8 that lost their lives in the span of a year.”
Among his friends, there were 81 lives in Yakima County that were lost to an overdose. On International Overdose Awareness Day, those lives were remembered and honored, with many sharing their personal stories.
“I lost my father to an opioid overdose after a long battle with chronic pain and prescribed medication,” said Dr. Gillian Zuckerman, an addiction medicine provider and family physician. “It was devastating to say the least but it’s given me a lot of perspective on the humanity of this disease.”
In her role, Dr. Zuckerman sees an abundance of issues stemming from substance use disorder, with many not knowing where to turn.
“What I see in our community right now is that we have a lot of opportunities and a lot of amazing resources that just haven’t been pulled in the right direction, to get all of the life-saving opportunities that we have into the hands of people who need it,” said Dr. Zuckerman.
The urgency of overdose deaths continues to rise. Triumph Treatment Services’ Director of Substance Use Disorder Services, Cassidy Leslie, says she sees a dramatic increase in fentanyl usage across the organization’s five centers.
“Back in 2019, I had my first patient who entered into treatment, whose drug of choice was fentanyl, and was one of 144 patients,” said Leslie. “Just in August, I looked at two weeks and our average number of patients in treatment just for fentanyl services was 55% of our patients.”
Leslie adds the amount of fentanyl being used is also on the rise. She says in 2019, most who used fentanyl would take around two pills a day, compared to as many as 50 pills in one day.
Dr. Zuckerman acknowledges overdoses can continue despite everyone’s best effort. But the process to recovery is a long one.
“It’s really important for people who are using drugs to know that they are loved, they are cared for and they are worthy of life,” said Dr. Zuckerman. “That’s gotta be the primary premise of any treatment for them.”
A handout provided to attendees at the 2023 event said the progress to finding solutions to substance use disorders starts with four steps.
Acceptance of substance use disorders as a public health problemReduce Stigma and Get EducatedEducate ChildrenGet Involved
Many of the volunteers at the event were in attendance to help others fight a struggle many have to fight.
“Just to be able to show everybody that nothing is impossible,” said De La Torre. “If I’m standing here today, If I’m here today, somebody else is able to hear this and get the message to be able to maybe one day, want to change their life and they know where the help is.”
