Pubdate: Sun, 15 Nov 2015
Source: Orange County Register, The (CA)
Copyright: 2015 The Orange County Register
Contact:  http://www.ocregister.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/321
Author: David Whiting, Staff Columnist

HEROES IN NATION'S WORST DRUG EPIDEMIC

Denise Cullen's journey from mother, to burying her only child before 
his 28th birthday, to activist is one that too many parents have had 
to take during the worst drug epidemic in this nation's history.

Most parents who lose a child collapse under the weight of trying to 
stem the tide of prescription opioids. But even after five years of 
battling what the Centers for Disease Control calls an ever-more 
deadly killer, Cullen and several other mothers and fathers in Orange 
County haven't given up - and now they are making dents in the epidemic.

Next week, Cullen will fly to Washington, D.C., for a conference with 
the federal drug czar at the White House.

Elaine Werner-Hudson, whose son, Josh, would be 36 had he survived, 
left for Italy last week to study what that country says is a 
successful method to reduce drug addiction.

Nearly every day, Jodi Barber, whose son would be 25, counsels 
parents and their children how to fight becoming a statistic. Only a 
few days ago, she helped persuade a teenager to go into long-term rehab.

It is a cliche that even if each activist helps save only one child, 
their efforts are worth it. But for each of these parents, that 
cliche is a daily truism.

On average, according to my recent review of coroner records, someone 
dies every other day in Orange County from an accidental overdose of 
prescription opioids.

Additionally, heroin addiction - linked to prescription drug 
addiction - is skyrocketing and finding its way into affluent homes. 
One woman last year who died from the highly addictive illegal drug 
was 64 years old. Another woman was 38.

Coroner records show that on average, nearly six Orange County 
residents a month die with heroin in their bodies.

THE LOBBYIST

It is November five years ago. I sit with Cullen and her husband, 
Gary, a businessman. The view from their Cowan Heights home speaks to 
hard work and success. But the photos on display are sobering.

Their son, Jeff, a snowboarder, BMX rider, body surfer, smiles, his 
6-foot-3 lean body seemingly ready to take on whatever the world 
dishes out. But by his 27th birthday, Jeff was a shell.

After a series of stints in rehab and minor run-ins with the law, 
Jeff's body was found next to an apartment building. He died from a 
mix of Xanax and morphine.

Cullen, a USC graduate and clinical social worker, tells me she plans 
to launch a nonprofit called Broken No More. She promises to work to 
"end the shame of addiction, encourage medical research and increase 
accessibility to rehabilitation."

Flash forward five years. Today, Cullen is executive director of 
Broken No More. She receives no salary, nor does her husband, who 
serves as vice president of development. Today, the organization 
reports 105 chapters in the U.S. and Canada.

Cullen's accomplishments include helping lead a successful effort in 
California to allow pharmacists to distribute naloxone, a drug which 
can reverse overdoses. Currently, she is supporting needle exchange 
in Orange County, a program still in its embryonic stage that is 
expected to help guide addicts to rehab.

Now 62, Cullen says her son would be 34 had he lived. She 
acknowledges that loss and hope fuels her just as it fuels other 
parents. But grief can work in conflicting ways.

"The process of losing a child drives many of us to want to do 
something," she explains. "On the other hand, there's a lot of blame 
and shame and anger."

Broken No More tackles exactly those kinds of feelings, battles the 
stigma of overdose, and injects reality into the war. Cullen's 
website states: "In the days of 'just say no' and Red Ribbon Weeks, 
we are denying the reality of what it is to be a teenager."

THE HEALER

The day before she leaves for Italy, Werner-Hudson shares that her 
son, Josh, died nine years ago of an opioid prescription overdose and 
would be 36 today.

"Every single day he is the first thing I think of and the last thing 
I think of before I go to bed," Werner-Hudson confides. "The feelings 
change, it becomes different. But you don't miss them any less. The 
longing just gets harder and harder."

It may seem like a startling admission. But Werner-Hudson is used to 
being boldly honest. Four years ago with Margie Fleitman, she founded 
S.O.L.A.C.E - Surviving Our Loss with Awareness, Compassion and 
Empathy - a weekly support group for addicts as well as friends and 
families of addicts.

Today, S.O.L.A.C.E offers weekly meetings at the Norman Murray Center 
in Mission Viejo, is sponsored by Orange County Drug and Alcohol 
Advisory Board and partners with drug court, which has some addicts 
attend meetings.

"They never saw what it did to their family," Werner-Hudson says, 
"and they cry."

For the past two years, Werner-Hudson has worked as a counselor at 
College Hospital in Costa Mesa. Echoing the Centers of Disease 
Control, she reports the numbers of addicts is increasing, especially 
middle-age women.

"There's a lot of heroin," she reports. "A great deal of them started 
out on prescriptions and will do heroin and oxycodone. It's heartbreaking."

Of her mission in Italy, Werner-Hudson explains, "We have to try 
something different."

THE FILMMAKER

Five years ago, Barber's 19-year-old son, Jarrod, died from a mix of 
Opana, an opioid, and anti-anxiety medication. She tells me had her 
boy lived, he would be 25.

"His brother just celebrated his 21st birthday without his best 
friend and brother," Barber says, her voice growing soft. "For the 
rest of their lives, this is what (siblings) deal with.

"As a mom, there's no words to describe it because our kids are 
supposed to go before us."

Still, Barber fought back by co-producing a documentary on local drug 
addiction called "Overtaken." During the summer, she finished a 
second film, "Overtaken 2, Where Are They Now." She also blogs and 
tweets about the prescription drug epidemic, gives talks and offers 
advice to addicts as well as their relatives.

Two weeks ago, she appeared on "The Dr. Oz Show" to discuss the 
guilty verdict against Dr. Lisa Tsang, who was blamed for the deaths 
of several Orange County men. But the judgment, believed to be the 
first in the nation against a doctor for recklessly prescribing 
drugs, doesn't make it any easier to watch the rising tide of opioid deaths.

"I get calls all the time. It's gotten worse," Barber reports. "It's 
horrific for me. I feel like it's a losing battle."

In some respects, she's right. Four years ago, 155 Orange County 
residents died of accidental prescription drug overdoses. Last year, 
according to my recent review of coroner reports, that figure soared to 175.

Yet every once in a while, even a simple phone call makes the 
struggle worthwhile. Barber offers, "I got two messages from kids 
yesterday who said I saved their lives."

It's dents made by hometown heroes in the opioid epidemic battle that 
will win the war  someday.
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