Fighting Drug Addiction - Zvi Gluck

[Music] I'm often asked at what point am I gonna stop showing up at events to do speaking on this topic and the answer is when it becomes no longer necessary and regardless what the size of the crowd is or how many people are watching it on Facebook and how many will see the videos later this is an epidemic that is destroying our community and unfortunately the last time that I had the honor I guess we'll call it to speak in this venue we were talking about the numbers of those that have died from overdoses within the Orthodox community I mean that specific event was actually a response to close to a dud a dozen deaths within this specific community in Queens alone sadly those numbers have not gone down we're just at about a hundred and fifty deaths within the Orthodox Jewish community on a national level under the age of 35 directly relating to the opioid epidemic since January 1st 2017 when we add mental illness to that equation and we add the suicide rate it brings that total number closer to 200 now as I spoke last week and I know many people hear the same thing repetitiously and I'll just keep saying the same thing because that's all there is to say that number is not 200 too many it's not a hundred too many it's not 50 too many it's one too many and each and every one soul that we lose is one that we have to look in the mirror look at ourselves and ask ourselves what could we have done now I'm not saying that we have to start playing God in every case but we have to take a responsibility the example that I use is if we had our kids at a school and somebody were to say that out of a class of twenty five one child in each grade would end up with asbestos poisoning possibly get sick or possibly die from that I can assure each and every one of you that we would be banging down the door to the board members of that school the principal the philanthropists that support that school screaming and yelling saying how can you let this happen there would be a crew in the school within 24 hours and they would start doing asbestos removal yet when it comes to the epidemic of drug addiction alcohol abuse all sorts of other addictive behaviors at-risk behaviors victims of sexual abuse domestic abuse we're not seeing that same outcry and I don't understand why it bothers me tremendously and there's just no excuse for it there's no excuse why every single high school in the world Jewish non-jewish Hasidic litva Sephardic doesn't do random drug testing coupled with getting people help when they need it you know the idea of doing just drug testing in some schools where they've come back to me and said well you'd be so proud of us we do drug testing and we have a zero-tolerance policy and if we find out anybody's using drugs we throw them out so let me tell you that the bulk of the deaths that we know about were people that were thrown out of schools whose taking on that responsibility for throwing somebody out of a school because they have a problem and then the result being them ending up in a worse situation and possibly dead that's not the answer either we need to create better educational programs better awareness programs and better systems in place to help our school systems or shools our synagogues our local communities whatever it takes this is what we need to start doing events such as this is the first step and generally speaking the most costly of all what most of you don't realize after these events our phones ringing off the hook the amudhan lines are bombarded with people that need help yeah we don't see those same calls coming in to support the efforts to be able to fund the help that's needed so we got a look at this from a multifocal approach and saying what could we do as a community whether it's getting the schools involved the community leaders the rabbi's organizations philanthropists whatever it takes what are we gonna do both individually and collectively to be able to bring this epidemic to an end once and for all are we doing enough to support those that are suffering from addiction do we understand that addiction is a disease it's an illness people that are addicts need our help love and support not only do they need our help love and support but they need the love and support of their own families all too often we see that those that are suffering from addiction their families want to disown them the communities wanted to send them even when they are sent for treatment they're not getting the support of their loved ones to go through the treatment in a healthy environment so let me tell you I don't care what rehab somebody goes to the most expensive the most inexpensive state program you know fancy hundred thousand dollar a month if a person going through this problem doesn't have the support of their loved ones it is a complete waste all too often we've had people that have come back from treatment sober ready to start again and those same triggers are waiting for them back at home and while they were out getting help their spouse was not in treatment the spouse was not going to al-anon meetings the spouse was not getting the therapeutic or the emotional or the support of help and therefore the understanding of the addiction process was not placed in an appropriate fashion and then when the next trigger happens the person unfortunately relapses and I'm starting to get really frustrated with this terminology relapse is a part of recovery I hate that term recovery is a part of recovery and that's what we have to focus on we have to focus on the positive focus on people getting healthy getting the help that they need and being there to support them for the employers in the neighborhood here are we hiring people that are coming out of treatment so we can give them a reason to live in this sample that I used last week is we can get anybody sober keeping them sober is the trick and if we don't give somebody a reason to live little give them a reason to want to thrive what good are we actually doing for them or for their families are we making sure that we're doing enough prevention you know let's remember most people that turn to serious addiction had something that occurred to them in their life whether it's having a learning disability whether it's being a victim of sexual abuse whether it's being someone who witnessed a trauma whether it's someone who suffered from so many other things and the list goes on are we doing enough prevention and early detection to help those people before they end up down the path of addiction you know why are we always focusing on the band-aid afterwards you know everybody always cries and and I'm no stranger to publicizing not names and not specific cases but I'm no stranger to publicizing what the suicide and over those rate is within our community because I feel that's the only way that we can affect change but what I notice is even when we go to a local funeral somebody that we know that passed away at the funeral everybody is sad they're crying they're in pain they're Mourning we need to do something about it but then the next day they go back to their life the family is still left picking up the pieces suffering for years to come but the family alone doesn't have the ability to step up and do anything to affect this change we the community do and I hate to be so blunt we're not doing enough we are not doing enough yes within this specific community the Kazak organization the Bukharian alliance the ABA the other shools in the neighborhood the qjc see we can all speak about events that we've done and we keep doing them but it's just not enough there are still no real Network here within this community need to step up and say if you have help come to us and we'll find it and we understand that the bulk of the reason here is stigma and the bulk of the reason why those that have these issues are need help that don't reach out is because of the stigma but let's remember it wasn't all that long ago that the same stigma applied to those that were self bring from other illnesses whether it's people that were born with you know genetic defects and now there are so many wonderful organizations to deal with them summer camps all year programs a few years after that stigma broke we were dealing with cancer where we couldn't even say the word and now there's many organizations that deal with cancer both for victim survivors family members insurance advocacy and then many years ago there was the issue with and I hate this term I say that all the time teens at risk and there was a great article written by a good friend of mine Rabbi Yaakov Horowitz which you know blew the lid of that one and so on and so forth the time has come for us as a community to say there is no more stigma in dealing with addiction it is an issue that we must confront all too often the problem that we have and I say this and I'll say this a hundred times the dirtiest word and the Jewish language starts with the letter S the word shadonna and that is the number one reason why we can't get people help how will it affect my community my family my friends who's gonna want to marry into my family so therefore were not gonna get people the help that they need because of a [ __ ] dog we'd rather cry at a Funeral I mean it wasn't that long ago thank God the story had a happy ending when I had a middle-aged woman who turned to drugs for a reason of somewhat legitimacy we'll call it so I'm gonna had a serious medical condition and required pain management and unfortunately got hooked on it and got hooked to the point that she couldn't get off this is a religious woman in the neighborhood married with a bunch of kids and I remember sitting at the intervention and I remember at some point just saying don't you realize you're gonna end up dead and her answer was I know but if I die my kids will have a chance of getting a good [ __ ] look because nobody will know why and they'll feel sad for them but if I go to rehab people are gonna know when it's going to destroy my family I thank God that one which I use in many of my speeches she did get treatment and borrow cash em she's doing great today but that's a clear example of what we're really dealing with what the effects are how many times do we have an opportunity we see someone that looks down and we know who our neighbors and friends are we know when our neighbors son or daughter comes home from school and something looks a little off to walk over and say hey how are you it doesn't take someone to you know I read this line yesterday helping one person may not change the world but it changes the world for that one person and that's something that I ask each and every one of you to do how can you change the world of one person in need by being a big brother a big sister by getting them the help that they need now let's shift for a second to when we find when we do target someone who needs the help so I have to say this the worst thing in the world today has become the internet because people think the Internet is the expert in all matters pertaining to addiction mental illness disease treatment find a licensed professional who knows about addiction and requests them to help reach out for help don't be shy reach out get some good ideas for those that are involved on the community side learn about meetings learn about a a and a sa ganon on al-anon learn about these things that save lives every single day let's make sure that within our community we can look past all these issues that are really putting a major blockade I'm embarrassed to say or I'm happy to say I'm not sure which one it is that in the short lifespan of a mood in less than 4 years old we've serviced over three and a half thousand people who needed help between addiction substance abuse sexual abuse thank you we're currently on the phone hours a day approximately 240 calls a day that our staff are dedicated amazing staff are busy with and we're trying to keep up with it it's just very very difficult years ago we used to try to figure out where this came from and we tried we thought we had answers unfortunately today we don't have those answers anymore but we know one thing the problems are here and sadly the way it looks to us now they're here to stay and we have to change that we have to change that at all costs possible you know we're gonna hear soon from a clinical expert in the field who's going to explain the physiological the chemical response to the neurological response but we also have to know the basic language the difference between substance use substance abuse dependency we're gonna get that but it's really important to understand that no matter where it starts from and unfortunately today we're seeing this major push because marijuana is getting legalized and everybody's busy talking about well it's only marijuana it's legal in so many places so I have to tell you a couple of issues that we're seeing now first of all nobody knows what the marijuana is laced with anymore today and we're seeing keira fentanyl and so many other really really dangerous substances that we have people that have come into emergency rooms smoking one joint even their first joint and because it was laced with something so deadly giving them lifelong reactions and effects you know years ago there was the expression of our tough love letting people hit rock bottom and that was the way of many people saying we're gonna withhold getting somebody help until they really need it the level of street drugs today are so deadly what it's being laced with what it's being mixed with what it's being cut with we don't have that Liberty anymore I mean even just today I was reading an article about a paramedic driving to the hospital with the patient in the back that was an overdose with a narcan reversal which will do the training shortly and will give out narcan kits as well and while this paramedic was driving he had an overdose and his partner in the back at that put the ambulance in park and revived him just from touching the substance that put his patient into a state of overdose and we also all know that sadly when somebody overdoses once and comes back the chances of them dying the next time around are that much greater but not just focusing on the drugs I'm gonna go back a step also and something I like to always speak about because sometimes we forget so let me just touch on alcohol for a moment and I'm sure many people in this room enjoy a glass of wine or a shot of whiskey once in a while and I'll be the first to admit I do as well but sadly what we've done is we've personified alcohol in a new light come home from that trip from Israel buying a bottle and duty-free showing it off to your children your friends your family putting it on top of that liquor cabinet now the message to the children are this is what's important in life so now the children want to follow what the adults do and I say the same thing all the time about kiddush clubs people always ask me our kiddush clubs the reason why children are becoming addicts I say I'm not sure there's no clear data for those that don't know the kiddush Club is when people are in shul on Shabbat morning and usually around when the rabbi starts to speak or when they finish reading the Torah portion and they're going to the haftorah a group goes out to the back to a side room and they start drinking and having some harrying and some cake said I'm not sure that that's turning our youth into addicts but what it's certainly doing is it's telling our youth that this is more important than the rabbi speech and the Torah that we got what message are we sending what are we teaching the next generation are we encouraging them to follow this behavior or are we gonna step up to the plate and say enough and another very important point on alcohol we're seeing this now because thank God these speeches all working and more and more people are entering recovery if you're ever add a simcha a wedding an event to dinner and your having a shot or drinking a glass of wine and you go to the person next to you and say hey join us for a look I'm and the person says now I'm not interested do us all a favor and don't ask them a second time for all you know that person is refusing that shot because they're in recovery and you don't want that responsibility on your shoulders if you push that person to have another drink whether it's because of peer pressure social pressure social anxiety and now that person is right back to where they started so please be very careful with that as well and of course the other really important thing and this is what I'm gonna end off with now so the doctor can speak and then we'll continue afterwards his family time the number one thing that we're noticing is families that's been time together and children that feel comfortable speaking to their parents and knowing they can be open with them while they may end up down these paths but they have who to talk to so try to be there try to spend time with your family try to do what you can to show your children that if they have a problem they can always come to you no matter what it's not about punishment it's not about getting them into trouble it's about getting them the help that they're going to need and please I beg all of you encourage the schools that your children go to encourage the synagogues that you pray at encourage those that have influence whether it's with your elected officials community leaders to be more open about these issues whether it's addiction whether it's abuse the things that are really destroying our communities so that together as a group we can stand up and do what we can to instead of speaking about tragedy speak about more similar we need to break the stigma but I want to touch on something just to understand especially since many of us in this room sadly have community members friends some even have relatives that have died of overdose opioid related to understand where that comes from and the good doctor touched on it a little bit but we'll go a step further how many people here have a headache and take two tylenol to deal with their headache okay if you have a really bad headache how many Tyler nose would you take three do you ever try taking one for some reason it's known you have a headache you take two Tylenol that's where you start with someone that has headaches chronic headaches we'll take two tylenols it won't work they'll take four and then two days later they'll have another real headache and they'll start right away with the fork because they know the two won't work and this will go on the body the way it's designed builds up the tolerance to substances that don't belong in there so what happens when somebody starts abusing drugs prescription or otherwise their body gets used to a certain level a certain dosage and then God willing people go and get sober go to treatment detox rehab aftercare meetings aana and then they have a speed bump in the road of life which we all have and they decide I'm just gonna go back to that last known dose that got me that desired high however at this point the body had already rebuilt up the resistance it had before the person started using drugs and now that same dose is a deadly dose and that's why we use the terminology so often accidental overdose because that's really what it is most of these people did not want to die they just needed to get through whatever that speed bump was we have noticed that most of the people that we've dealt with that have overdosed were sober 90 days or greater and many of them even a year or longer there's also a high rate as you just mentioned where people were active in aana meetings sponsor and then at some point they chose not to anymore and they lost that support structure so we need to be as supportive as we can as encouraging to those that are going through the program to get them the help that they need we also need to remember that this is killing people at rates we have never seen before whether it was the paramedic that I spoke about that just touched a car fentanyl or whether it's people that are experimenting you know in our community especially where we are so scared to do drug education in our school systems I could tell you I know of kids 14 15 years old that could not differentiate between marijuana oxycontin other opioids ecstasy or any other drugs because when one is bad they must all be bad so if I'm trying one what's wrong with trying something else and we know people that were just smoking weed and their dealer which means their 10th grade friend was away for a few days so they got ahold of a phone number of someone else who said hey instead of just trying that try something different the lack of our education is putting our youth at a much higher risk we need to stop that we need to be realistic every time a school tells me you know if we introduced this topic it's going to expose them to something please don't kid yourself for one second boys and girls both in high school know what rogues are know about it and if we're not gonna educate them the street will do we want to take that chance is that what we're looking to accomplish when we teach our kids not to walk into the street without looking both ways we tell them because if you don't look both ways in a car hit you it can be very damaging or it can actually kill you these are all the realities of the life but we don't want to talk about it with drugs and alcohol we don't want to talk about it with things that were noticing trends that have never been seen before who are we kidding for one minute don't think that this is not real not my community not in our backyard not here not there they don't know this is everywhere Cassie this lip Fish Modern Orthodox fard Ashkenazi bukhari in Persian Syrian I don't care what community we are part of here tonight and let's also all remember we're all part of one community and these are all of our brothers and sisters that we're dealing with so let's understand this alcoholism in our community needs to be looked at from a very different lens as well because alcohol is such a huge part of the subculture of Judaism whether it's kiddush every Friday night every simcha that we go to so we need to be cognizant of that as well we need to understand the role that addiction is taking in our community we need to understand the difference type of addictions as well you know there's gambling internet pornography and I want to say this internet and pornography are not the same addiction either and by the way you said something I'll just go on that we're talking about you know the digital age that we're living in today so studies are clearly showing that the use of technology and I'm gonna be realistic there's no way to stop it our kids are gonna use iPad tablets it's just a reality we got to be smarter about it limited but there are different serotonin that's released in the brain and some other chemical reactions that like what's the right terminology should I be using here Sarah bone and dopamine that get released every time a child is using a tablet now I don't think anybody here would go to their eight-year-old child and say here try some heroin and I'm not saying that using a tablet is as bad as heroin but the addictive personality component is certainly there so we need to be realistic of all these things guys leaving here tonight and those that are watching please understand that addiction is real the lives that are being lost are all around us we talk about in the times of the kerbin aimed by a shame shame bow mates there was no house that didn't have someone that died that applies already in today's society there's not a single family that I know that doesn't know directly or indirectly somebody that is an addict family member of an addict someone that went to treatment somebody that died let's hope that we can bring the need for all of these speeches to an end and let's really thank the Kazakh organization and all the other sponsors tonight for helping to bring awareness and together we'll deal with this issue as a group and stop the death and all the other problems that we have thank you all so much [Music] you [Applause]