Mass. Lawmakers Hope To Turn Addicts' Horror Stories Into Solutions
BOSTON (CBS) - It's a pretty remarkable day for Eddie Patrick and his family, considering the 25-year-old died late last year.
"For a dad to have a second chance like this, it's overwhelming," explains Patrick's father Nicholas Payne. "Back six or seven months ago, my boy OD'd and died twice. His mother found him."
Read: More Than 200 Overdose Deaths In Mass.
"It basically tore me and my family's lives apart," Patrick says of his addiction to heroin.
A shot of Narcan brought Patrick back to life. And today he, along with dozens of other recovering addicts, is somewhere he never could have imagined: Commanding the attention of Governor Charlie Baker and the state's top leaders to tell their stories.
"Every day it's a struggle," the Malden native says. "I have to say to myself, I am not eligible to use a substance. Because even if I start smoking weed, it'll drag me back down to start shooting heroin again."
Prescription pill addictions – that can quickly turn into much more -- are a problem that advocates say can't be ignored anymore. That's the reason behind Governor Baker's Opioid Addiction Working Group, which traveled the state, including Thursday's visit to the State House. The working group's goal is to turn addicts' horror stories into solutions.
"We really need to come at this issue from so many different fronts in order to be able to really get at this terrible disease," says State Attorney General Maura Healey.
For Patrick and his family, talking about the problem is the only way it's going to get better.
"Everybody needs to hear that recovery works, and treatment does work," he says.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Lana Jones reports
