Pubdate: Tue, 08 Mar 2016
Source: Seattle Times (WA)
Copyright: 2016 The Seattle Times Company
Contact:  http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/409
Author: Nicole Brodeur

MOM: HIDING ADDICTION MEANS DEATH

There was a time when Penny LeGate couldn't bear to hear her own 
daughter's name.

And yet, there she was last week, glued to her computer screen, 
watching as Sen. Patty Murray stood on the floor of the U.S. Senate 
and cited LeGate's girl, Marah Williams - and her death at 19 from a 
heroin overdose in 2012 - in urging the passage of the Comprehensive 
Addiction and Recovery Act.

The legislation, if passed, would tackle prescription-drug abuse and 
heroin addiction by cutting down the "inappropriate" use of pain 
medication that leads to addiction. It also would make it easier for 
people to safely dispose of medication and would give police access 
to naloxone, which can counteract the effects of an overdose.

Last month, Marah's story was included in the Frontline documentary 
"Chasing Heroin" on PBS. The two-hour piece examines America's heroin 
crisis by telling the stories of addicts and by exploring shifts in 
U.S. drug policy, including the effects of treating addiction as a 
publichealth issue instead of a crime.

And last Tuesday, LeGate was named to a new, 32-member King County 
task force charged with finding ways to expand treatment for heroin 
addiction, which county officials blame for the current homeless crisis here.

It's a long way from four years ago, when LeGate found her daughter, 
gone, in the basement of their home. She retreated, as anyone would, 
and when we met for breakfast not long after Marah's death, LeGate 
removed her sunglasses and gave me a shock. The bright-blue eyes of 
the former KIRO-TV anchor were ringed in red and dark circles. She 
spoke in a near-whisper.

But grief can fuel a new kind of purpose and energy. LeGate founded 
The Marah Project, which provides atrisk teens paid internships in 
nonprofit community service organizations.

And now, as the city, county and nation are overwhelmed by a new and 
furious wave of heroin use, LeGate feels strangely, sadly validated.

"This can happen to anyone," she said. "And a lot of people have been 
unwilling to talk about it because they don't want to be judged as 
horrible parents. I tell them to come out of the shadows because 
hiding the disease, whether it's yourself or someone you love, allows 
people to die."

At the news conference announcing the formation of the task force, 
King County Executive Dow Constantine reeled off the stats: In 2014, 
heroin-overdose deaths in King County totaled 156, the most in 20 
years. More people now enter detox for heroin than alcohol. And among 
the homeless, overdoses are the leading cause of death.

LeGate isn't surprised. She knows the hold heroin can have on people 
who seem to have so much else in their lives: families, talent, love.

"When I took up the mantle of this heroin problem, people couldn't 
believe it could be in their schools, in their homes," LeGate said. 
"Nobody was paying attention. 
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom