Tears, Painful Truths, Hope At Task Force’s 2nd Opioid Forum

April 12th, 2018

SOUTHAMPTON, NY — Stories of heartbreak and hope intermingled Wednesday night as the human faces of the opioid crisis, raging from young to old and from all walks of life — including former Southampton Town Councilman Brad Bender — stepped forward to share their painfully honest truths in the hopes of creating change.

The Southampton Opioid Addiction Task Force hosted its second public forum, “It Hits Home, Part II” at Southampton High School.

“No drugs, no gangs”

Southampton Town Police Chief Explorers, a group of young people enrolled in the program to learn about law enforcement, began the evening with a message, holding letters that read, “No drugs, no gangs.”

Southampton Police Chief Steven Skrynecki spoke, presenting statistics “that appear to show the number of opioid deaths are slowing down,” said task force co-chair Drew Scott. “At this time last year we had seven overdose deaths. This year we have only one — but that’s still one death too many.”

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