Last weekend I headed out to what I would call the most northern part of New York to keynote an opioid awareness event hosted by St Lawrence County Public Health Department. I’ve recently been trying these red eye flights to get across the country to save on a night in a hotel and I have to say, it’s not the business. I’ve decided after this trip that I won’t take any more red eye flights unless I absolutely have to. I never end up sleeping on the plane at night like I do during the day. If I take a morning flight I can sleep on nearly every flight the entire time.
During my spring speaking tour I was in a place called Watertown, NY. Which at the time was the farthest North in the state I had been. Well Waddington was an hour and half north of Watertown. One thing I found interesting during the drive was that the flags hanging from people’s homes were a mixture of the American flag and the Canadian flag.
The event was really a huge success in my opinion. This was the first of what I hope turns out to be many in the St. Lawrence County. The turnout for the first event was probably several hundred people and that is not easy to do. It is also a clear indicator that the community recognize the opioid issue occurring in their town and that things need to change. After my speech the opioid task force held a panel discussion as well as NARCAN training. To finish the night off we held a balloon vigil, which everyone writes the name of someone they know in active addiction or who has passed as a result of an overdose, onto the balloon and all at once we let the balloon off into the air.
I’d like to extend a big thank you to all of the organizers involved! It was an honor to be apart of such a great event. May we meet again in the future!
