It is not your problem, until it is YOUR problem.

Hello everyone, 

Below are the number of residents who died of overdoses in the first half of 2016:

• Andover: 0
• Ansonia: 4
• Ashford: 0
• Avon: 1
• Barkhamsted: 0
• Beacon Falls: 1
• Berlin: 2
• Bethany: 0
• Bethel: 2
• Bethlehem: 0
• Bloomfield: 0
• Bolton: 0
• Bozrah: 0
• Branford: 4
• Bridgeport: 21
• Bridgewater: 0
• Bristol: 13
• Brookfield: 1
• Brooklyn: 0
• Burlington: 0
• Canaan: 0
• Canterbury: 0
• Canton: 0
• Chaplin: 1
• Cheshire: 0
• Chester: 0
• Clinton: 2
• Colchester: 1
• Colebrook: 0
• Columbia: 1
• Cornwall: 0
• Coventry: 1
• Cromwell: 0
• Danbury: 9
• Darien: 2
• Deep River: 1
• Derby: 3
• Durham: 0
• East Granby: 0
• East Haddam: 1
• East Hampton: 2
• East Hartford: 3
• East Haven: 3
• East Lyme: 0
• East Windsor: 2
• Eastford: 0
• Easton: 0
• Ellington: 1
• Enfield: 4
• Essex: 0
• Fairfield: 2
• Farmington: 5
• Franklin: 0
• Glastonbury: 1
• Goshen: 0
• Granby: 2
• Greenwich: 2
• Griswold: 3
• Groton: 3
• Guilford: 1
• Haddam: 1
• Hamden: 6
• Hampton: 0
• Hartford: 28
• Hartland: 0
• Harwinton: 1
• Hebron: 2
• Kent: 0
• Killingly: 0
• Killingworth: 0
• Lebanon: 0
• Ledyard: 1
• Lisbon: 0
• Litchfield: 0
• Lyme: 0
• Madison: 2
• Manchester: 9
• Mansfield: 2
• Marlborough: 2
• Meriden: 15
• Middlebury: 0
• Middlefield: 1
• Middletown: 2
• Milford: 5
• Monroe: 4
• Montville: 1
• Morris: 0
• Naugatuck: 4
• New Britain: 18
• New Canaan: 0
• New Fairfield: 2
• New Hartford: 0
• New Haven: 22
• New London: 6
• New Milford: 1
• Newington: 1
• Newtown: 3
• Norfolk: 0
• North Branford: 2
• North Canaan: 2
• North Haven: 1
• North Stonington: 0
• Norwalk: 5
• Norwich: 13
• Old Lyme: 0
• Old Saybrook: 2
• Orange: 0
• Oxford: 3
• Plainfield: 0
• Plainville: 3
• Plymouth: 0
• Pomfret: 0
• Portland: 2
• Preston: 0
• Prospect: 1
• Putnam: 0
• Redding: 0
• Ridgefield: 0
• Rocky Hill: 0
• Roxbury: 0
• Salem: 0
• Salisbury: 0
• Scotland: 0
• Seymour: 3
• Sharon: 0
• Shelton: 8
• Sherman: 0
• Simsbury: 1
• Somers: 4
• South Windsor: 1
• Southbury: 0
• Southington: 3
• Sprague: 0
• Stafford: 0
• Stamford: 4
• Sterling: 0
• Stonington: 1
• Stratford: 10
• Suffield: 1
• Thomaston: 1
• Thompson: 0
• Tolland: 1
• Torrington: 5
• Trumbull: 2
• Union: 0
• Vernon: 4
• Voluntown: 0
• Wallingford: 5
• Warren: 0
• Washington: 0
• Waterbury: 21
• Waterford: 1
• Watertown: 2
• West Hartford: 5
• West Haven: 7
• Westbrook: 1
• Weston: 1
• Westport: 1
• Wethersfield: 3
• Willington: 1
• Wilton: 0
• Winchester: 1
• Windham: 2
• Windsor: 2
• Windsor Locks: 2
• Wolcott: 0
• Woodbridge: 1
• Woodbury: 2
• Woodstock: 0

These figures come from an article on an online town news page that was covering the heroin epidemic in our state. It is an increase from last year and expected to continue to rise. This is only through June and these are only the overdose deaths, this figure does not include the overdoses that survived or the thousands of folks who are actively using who could end up on this list at any time. The numbers are truly staggering and cause me an insurmountable amount of sadness.

When I found out Hillary was using heroin I said, "absolutely not, there is no way. Heroin is for the homeless and people who live in inner cities". "Regular people like us, don't do stuff like that."  I could not have been more wrong. Take a look at the list below and understand that these are your towns, your family and friends, same as they are mine. It is NOT your problem until it is YOUR problem.

I took care of my daughter, loved her more than life itself and it happened to her. I say "happened" because the initial choice to use the first time may have been hers, however the choices after that were made by the disease and unfortunately no one knows who suffers with the disease lying dormant until it is too late.

No ONE chooses a life that hurts for no reason, addiction is not fun and parties and getting high.  Addiction is pain, suffering and the need for the drug that becomes just as important as the NEED for breath and water.

                                            Another sign

I have experienced the loss caused by this disease in Ben and so many others I have met along this road and the gain in the continued recovery of my daughter.

If you are in the throws of addiction and reading this, know there are many who love you and know you are more than a number on s list.

If you are a loved one of someone who suffers with this disease, know there are many who love you too, you are most certainly NOT alone in your suffering.

May the spirit and energy

that is

loving,

kind

and compassionate

in this world

bring you healing and peace

today and always

XOX Kristyn