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Join trainer Katrina Fox, CRPA August 10, 2022 – August 12, 2022 9am-3pm (1-hour Lunch) Capital District Recovery Center- 45 Colvin Ave. Albany, NY Cost: $200 Additional Support available for CRPA credentialing process To register or for more information contact 518-321-2891 or CRPAtraining@pyhit.org Deadline to register August 1, 2022

Epicenter is a stage production from Creative Action Unlimited that explores the experience of loving someone with a substance use disorder. This original script is based on the personal experiences of residents of the Capital Region and is designed to increase understanding of the issue and inspire audience members to take action in their own lives and in their community. This presentation takes approximately 40 minutes, and we plan to have an additional 30 minutes for questions and answers. May 19th at HVCC, starting at 6:30 in the Maureen Stapelton Theater Nopiates along with the Rotary Club of Delmar are promoting Epicenter.

WHAT IS A RECOVERY COACH? A Recovery Coach promotes recovery and removes barriers and obstacles to recovery, serving as a personal guide and mentor for people seeking or already in recovery from an addiction to alcohol and or other drugs. While we believe in the title Recovery Coach, there are many other titles that are used for this sought after position. What distinguishes a coach from other peer positions is that we stay in the lane of providing support for people in recovery from an addition to alcohol and or other drugs. Want a career as a Recovery Coach? Join trainer Katrina Fox, CRPA May 9, 2022 – May 13, 2022 9am-4pm (1-hour Lunch) Capital District Recovery Center- 45 Colvin Ave, Albany, New York,12206 Cost: $300 Additional Support available for CRPA credentialing process To register or for more information contact 518-321-2891 or CRPAtraining@pyhit.org Deadline to register April 25,2022 More information on attached flyer

Drug overdose deaths have reached a historic high, devastating families and communities. More than 104,000 Americans died due to a drug overdose in the 12-month period ending in September 2021. We grieve these losses, and commit to continuing our work to save lives. Tonight, President Biden outlined the decisive actions his Administration is taking to address addiction and the overdose epidemic and laid out a vision for how his Administration will continue to expand evidence-based prevention, harm reduction, treatment, recovery, and supply reduction approaches to save lives.

Read more at https://cbs6albany.com/news/local/addiction-care-center-workers-revive-two-after-overdose ALBANY -- Addiction Care Center employees Clarence Rivers, Yolanda Johnson, and Jihad El-Amin say today they got a call from a colleague, passing a two-car crash just down the street - the call, was for extra help. "We grabbed two Narcan kits, we drove to the bottom of the hill, where there was a lot of commotion,” said Rivers. Police say 30-year-old Jacob Waldron rear-ended the car in front of him on the corner of McCarty Avenue and South Pearl Street. Johnson says Waldron and his passenger were unconscious in their car. “they were completely out of it, the car was still going, the engine was still on..." She says they administered Narcan on the two, with the help of another certified man on scene - and it took a minute for the two to regain consciousness. “You're not certain that person is going to respond when they overdose, and you hope the Narcan works." said El-Amin. Albany County Sheriff Craig Apple said, "The Narcan really is a miracle drug and it saves thousands of lives a year, it saved many lives already locally." Apple has long supported the emergency treatment drug - he praises the three addiction specialists, and pushes more people to take the class to become certified to administer it. "You never know, this could happen anywhere...it's horrific, and the more people that are trained, I think the more lives can be saved,” he said. Johnson, Rivers and El-Amin say - today was the first time they ever had to break out the kits. "Just seeing that situation, I have to say that I have a new found respect for Narcan and I know that if it was not for that drug, we could have lost two people today,” Johnson said.

By German Lopez Feb. 13, 2022 NY Times Read more at https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/13/briefing/opioids-drug-overdose-death-toll.html Drug overdoses now kill more than 100,000 Americans a year — more than vehicle crash and gun deaths combined. Sean Blake was among those who died. He overdosed at age 27 in Vermont, from a mix of alcohol and fentanyl, a synthetic opioid. He had struggled to find effective treatment for his addiction and other potential mental health problems, repeatedly relapsing. “I do love being sober,” Blake wrote in 2014, three years before his death. “It’s life that gets in the way.” Blake’s struggles reflect the combination of problems that have allowed the overdose crisis to fester. First, the supply of opioids surged. Second, Americans have insufficient access to treatment and other programs that can ease the worst damage of drugs. Mary DiAntonio kisses a portrait of her son Angelo DiAntonio during a memorial service for overdose victims in Pittsburgh last year. Credit...Nate Guidry/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette via AP

by Chris Churchill - Feb. 10, 2022 - Times Union https://www.timesunion.com/churchill/article/Churchill-A-pandemic-story-of-addiction-and-pain-16844393.php The COVID-19 pandemic threw Jamie Magur off the wagon. Newly released from jail, he's putting his life back together. TROY — At the start of the pandemic, Jamie Magur had been sober for nearly seven years. That was no small thing. In a prior version of his life, Magur's long, painful struggle with alcoholism had resulted in an 18-month prison sentence after six arrests for drunken driving. As he willingly concedes, he was fortunate not to have killed somebody. But after leaving prison, Magur turned a corner. He launched a successful downtown Troy barbershop. He was married and raising two children. He ran for the Troy City Council a few times, unsuccessfully. Then, the wheels fell off. Early in 2020, the pandemic closed his barbershop, Troy Grooming Co., and overturned Magur's life. His kids were no longer in school. Financial pressures were mounting. To stop himself from worrying, to numb the pain and the stress and the depression, Magur poured himself a stiff drink. Then another. And another. Many Americans were doing the same. Alcohol consumption spiked when the pandemic arrived and has apparently continued, with one recent study finding that nearly 20 percent of adults have been drinking heavily. For many of us, those glasses of wine or whiskey helped deal with the sudden loss of connection to friends and family, with the disruption to routines, with new anxieties or even with simple boredom. Heck, in the early days of the pandemic, there wasn't much else to do — and liquor stores were "essential businesses." But for Magur, that first drink (vodka, he believes) was a descent. Suddenly, he was right back to where he was before the prison sentence. He spiraled. He lost control. He drank daily, consuming a few drinks, at best, or as many as 12. One evening late in 2020, Magur sneaked a few drinks after work then climbed onto his Vespa for the trip to his family's home near Frear Park. He crashed the scooter before he got there, an accident that sent him to Albany Medical Center with severe head trauma. The crash also put him back behind bars on a felony DWI charge. As part of a plea deal, Magur walked into Rensselaer County Jail in October. That four-month sentence probably saved his life, Magur told me, but it was torture. Most of all, he missed his two young daughters. He felt guilty for letting them down and the pain he had once again caused. "That's just something that I have to accept," he told himself. "This has to be the end of my relationship with alcohol." Magur, 42, left jail about a week ago and is attempting to rebuild his life. He's working again at the barbershop. He's trying to heal the damage done to his marriage and to friendships. He's trying to regain trust and atone. It is possible, of course, that Magur would have returned to drinking without the coronavirus pandemic. In that alternate version of reality, some other stress or frustration might have led him to pour that first drink. But after two years of COVID-19, Magur also illustrates the pandemic behind the pandemic — a tidal wave of depression and addiction fueled, in part, by isolation and loneliness. Alarmingly, drug overdoses were up 30 percent in 2020 to the highest number on record, and early data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests last year's toll was even higher. "What COVID did to people who struggle with addiction is real," said Magur, who is taking the medication naltrexone to quell his cravings. Magur doesn't want people to think he's using the tragedy of the pandemic as an excuse for his fall. He knows skeptics will find his decisions unforgivable or contemptible. Of course, it would be easier for him to return to his life without airing his mistakes so publicly. But talking openly and honestly about addiction, he said, is the only way to drag it from the shadows. It's also his way of accepting responsibility. "I know that I let people down, but I'm praying that I have the opportunity to make amends," he said. "I'm human. I made a mistake. I'm here, and I'm not going anywhere." As he reconstructs his life, Magur hopes he can be a light for those trapped in the darkness of addiction. Don't give up, he said. There is hope. You can get through this. Most importantly, ask for help. "You have to reach out to someone, no matter who that is," he said. "The door at the barbershop is always open."

By Mark Kaplan, Acting President BOD, Capital District Recovery Center (CDRC) Accidental overdose deaths will continue to rise until we recognize this epidemic as a chronic treatable disease and not a moral failing or shortcoming. In 2021, the US reported more than 100,000 overdose deaths, the most ever recorded in a single year, a 30% increase over the previous year, according to the CDC. At an annual cost of $740 billion each year, according to the NIH/National Institute on Drug Abuse, we could spend a fraction of that amount and increase access to addiction treatment with an approach that’s more compassionate, evidence-based, and rooted in public health. SAMHSA estimates 40.3 million people are living with Substance Use Disorder (SUD) and 2.7 million Americans are living with Opioid Use Disorder (OUD), however, only 7% and 11% respectively are receiving treatment. Why? The answer is STIGMA!! Although we have started to turn the corner on recognizing Substance and Opioid Use Disorder as a chronic disease that is treatable with evidenced based treatment available, old stereotypes continue to be pervasive, which in turn keeps those who suffer in the shadows and not seeking the help that is available. In a recent comprehensive survey on stigma, responses confirm that societal views have seen little change. Over 75% of the public doesn’t believe addiction is a treatable chronic disease. 45% of medical professionals think using medication to help treat addiction is swapping one addiction for another. 46% of those with addiction said they felt ashamed of themselves. We need to look at treatment differently as with other chronic diseases! Success in treating SUD & OUD is more than 12 Step programs. They must include available FDA approved Medication Assisted Treatment (MAT), Counseling and Behavioral Therapy, Mental Health Monitoring and Treatment as well as Support Groups. In addition, a new novel way to address SUD, available to patients 24/7 are FDA Authorized Prescription Digital Therapies (PDT’s) that improve retention and abstinence rates However, these new therapies are not widely used nor covered by insurance or Medicaid for those who suffer from SUD. It’s time we recognize this for the chronic, treatable disease that it is and stop blaming those that are afflicted as morally flawed or socially irresponsible and start appropriately directing resources for this costly disease that continues to take an increasing number of lives each year.

Meeting every other Wednesday starting November 17th. 7:00pm - 8:00pm at CDRC (Capital District Recovery Center) 45 Colvin Ave. Albany, NY 12206 (518) 487-4617 Host: Suze G - 518-424-9422 Topic: Recovery book - For the first meeting choose an excerpt from your favorite recovery book to discuss. We will then agree on a book for the next meeting. Please bring a list of books of interest.

Wearing a Mask is required inside meetings and common space. Beverages brought in is acceptable; Please put mask back on immediately. No temperature taking or signatures required. Seeking: Volunteers! Join us in Building Safety, Fundraisers, Events, Building Opening and Closing. Contact Jihad El-Amin at 518-429-5034. “Give back and Keep your center safe!”

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Benita Zahn - May 17, 2021 The pandemic has been difficult for many, including those in recovery. In fact, 81,003 people died from drug overdoses in the 12-month period ending last June. That's a 20% increase and the highest number of fatal overdoses ever recorded in the United States in a single year. Read more