CUMBERLAND COUNTY, Pa. — Hundreds gathered in Cumberland County on Tuesday to highlight the biggest challenges when it comes to the fight against substance abuse.
“It’s an issue we can’t solve in isolation," said Dr. Latika Davis-Jones, Pennsylvania's Secretary of Drug and Alcohol Programs.
This year’s symposium, hosted by the state Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs, delivered a piece of good news.
Overdose deaths are on the decline in 45 states, including Pennsylvania.
“It’s been very, very frustrating over the last decade to watch the numbers go up, so to see the first decrease in five years last year was heartening, and I’m excited about the additional decreases we’ve seen since January of this year," said Tom Coderre, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
It’s a trend that is particularly meaningful for Coderre, who has been personally impacted by substance abuse.
“For somebody like me who’s in recovery from a substance abuse disorder, I have gone through the loss of many friends to this disease," he told FOX43. "I’ve dedicated my life’s work to this, and I’m passionate about seeing us make progress.”
Despite this progress, Dr. Davis-Jones and Coderre both say there is more work to do, as fentanyl and xylazine, often mixed together, are still taking too many lives.
“Overdose and drug use doesn’t discriminate," said Dr. Davis-Jones. "We have young people experimenting with drugs. Also, there’s individuals that are seniors. It runs the continuum.”
This is why leaders say coming together to tackle the issue at hand is so important.
“We’re trending down, and we’re hoping that our efforts will remain [and] that that trend will stay in place," Dr. Davis-Jones said.