Erie County lost 156 people to opioid overdose deaths in 2019.
One of those deaths was Ann Farren’s son, Kenneth Michael Farren.
“My son was 33 years old, he had a 12-year-old son when he passed away in October,” Farren said. “He battled with addiction and mental health disease for many years. He was diagnosed with bipolar [disorder.] Great kid, hard worker, could fix anything, but his demons just beat him.”
In the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic and the recession stemming from it, New York continues to battle a different public health crisis: the opioid epidemic.
In three Western New York counties, Niagara, Chautauqua and Erie, officials reported an increase in overdose deaths since the pandemic.
At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York and in honor of her son, Ann launched the Farren Foundation, which aims to end the cycle of addiction and substance use by providing counseling and supportive services to youth and family members.
“This isn’t the first person we’ve lost,” Ann said.
Kenneth died October 1, 2019 — 12 years and 12 days after his father died of the same disease.
The cycle of generation addiction is nuanced. Research points that it is both a case of nurture and nature.
Several studies that include identical and fraternal twins, adoptees, and siblings suggest that as much as half of a person’s risk of addiction to substances comes from their genetic makeup, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
“This is our community, this is our children, these are people dying who shouldn’t be dying,” she said. “They have children and they have families.”
As of Augut 3, the county reports 48 opioid overdose deaths and 134 suspected overdoses, according to data from the Erie County Opiate Epidemic Task Force third quarterly meeting of 2020.
If all of those deaths end up being confirmed due to opioid overdoses, the county will have surpassed last year’s numbers with almost five months left in the year.
Those deaths are associated with an increase in fentanyl in drugs like cocaine, coupled with isolation and other stressors of the pandemic, said Gale Burstein, Erie County commissioner of health at July 28 press conference.
There are resources for substances use in the Western New York community including access to free naloxone, the county’s 24-hour addiction hotline at 716-831-7007, medically assisted treatment, and more.
“The message is today check on your loved one, call them, call them just to say hello,” Cheryll Moore, Erie County Department of Health opioid program director, said.
Additionally, the county partners with Evergreen Health and their harm reduction model which offers free fentanyl testing strips in Western New York, said Moore.
Evergreen Health’s harm reduction model encourages those who use substances to have a supply of naloxone on hand, start with a smaller amount, use a fentanyl test strip on their supply, and call a helpline like Never Use Alone at 1-800-484-3731.
While a fentanyl test strip is helpful, it does not test for every kind of fentanyl analogs, said Moore. Substance use disorder isn’t a disease that an individual battles alone — it’s a disease fought by community and by mothers like Ann.
A few years ago, Ken was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and would often be frustrated when the medication didn't work, Ann said.
But he tried to remain sober and manage his mental health, she said.
And each life lost to this disease echoes throughout Western New York.
“He was a son, he was a dad, he was a brother, he was an uncle, he was a laborer,” Ann said of her son. “He had the biggest heart in the whole wide world, but drugs just made him a different person.”
There is hope: the county is encouraging to rely on friends and family, never use alone, and learn to be trained in how to use naloxone.
The county offers a 24/7 addiction hotline at 716-831-7007 and you can receive free naloxone by texting 716-225-5473.
To learn more about the Farren Foundation, visit their website.
To learn more about the Erie County Opiate Epidemic Task Force, visit their website.