EAST HEMPFIELD TOWNSHIP, Pa. -- Kristin Noecker feels compelled to educate others on the danger of drugs.
"When I was using, I did not believe there was recovery. I thought it was morally deficient and something was wrong with me," she said.
Noecker's been in long-term recovery for 10 years. She was a panelist, Monday, at the 24th Annual Lancaster County DUI Awareness Conference.
Noecker is a recovery advocate with the RASE Project, a drug prevention group. She addressed Suboxone , a drug which helps addicts kick their addictions. Suboxone is a film that dissolves in the mouth to help with withdraw symptoms.
"It blocks receptors that opioids normally attach to when someone's addicted, so it locks them up like a lock and a key so they no longer crave the drug," she said.
RASE has a specific goal, Noecker said. "Our goal is to get them to a different place in their life that they were before they started using and using the medication is a step in the right direction."