An upcoming overdose prevention community town hall is being sponsored by the Lower Bucks Addiction Task Force (LBATF), a derivative of the original Bucks County Heroin Prevention Outreach Initiative formed late last year.
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The LBATF, which held its first meeting in November, is a coalition of government officials, law enforcement, clergy, recovery facilities, civic leaders and concerned citizens who all aim to strategically combat the drug epidemic by gathering community leaders to take preventative measures and educating the public about the issue of drug addiction in the lower end of the county.
The public is invited to the group’s community forum to learn more about the disease of addiction, community resources, and what’s being done.. The forum will take place on Wednesday, February 15 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Cairn University’s Chatlos Chapel at 200 Manor Avenue in Langhorne Manor.
“It’s time to stop being passive, and time to start being aggressive,” stated then-Assistant District Attorney Matthew Weintraub about the organization’s start in 2014. “We want to take the public by the throat, because without the public’s help we can’t win. That’s paramount. Enough is enough. If you know something, tell us.”
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Expert panelists at the town hall will include Pennsylvania State Rep. Gene DiGirolamo, Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub, Bucks County Drug and Alcohol Commission Executive Director Diane W. Rosati, Bensalem Director of Public Safety Fred Harran, Gaudenzia Recovery Center CEO Mike Harle, Bob Sofronski of the Christian Life Prision and Recovery Ministries, Bucks County Recovery House Association President Bryan Kennedy and EMS Medical Director Dr. Kenneth Lavelle.
The task force’s greater game plan includes educating the public, treating those already suffering, and promoting the use of a new online monitoring database which may link medical providers with patients that sell or abuse prescriptions.
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“[The drug that gets them hooked and ultimately kills them] could be down the street or right inside their medicine cabinet,” said Dr. Lloyd Gestoso, the Dean of Cairn University’s Social Work Department. “Some of these people innocently take drugs prescribed by their doctors and soon find themselves dependent on something they never anticipated would control them.”
A drop box will be made available for participants to drop off any unwanted, unused, or expired prescription and over-the-counter medications. All medications will be accepted but needles and illicit drugs will not.
