NEWARK, OH (WCMH) — A local school district wants to become part of the solution to the opioid epidemic by openly talking about the problem.
The Newark City Schools’ superintendent held a conversation about the drug issue during a forum at Newark High School on Wednesday night.
Colleen Richards volunteers with the Newark Addiction Recovery Initiative and will have a booth at this event to help provide information she did not have when her daughter became an addict more than 10 years ago.
“As a parent I was just totally you know,” said Richards. “I didn’t know where to go for help.”
Her daughter, Mykel Sullivan, explained that at 10-years-old she was given opioids to deal with pain for her kidney problems and was addicted by the age of 12. She said four years later she needed her fix.
“I did everything I could at 15 to get high and that’s sad to say, and it only got worse,” said Sullivan.
She was in and out of prison for more than a decade. Now she has been clean for a year, and she told us it hurts her to see other kids in the same situation.
“I see kids and they’re overdosing at 13 and 14-years-old. It is very important to educate the kids on this disease.”
The Newark City Schools’ webpage encourages the community to come out and join the conversation.