I am proud to call Jessica Padgett my friend and honored to stand next to her in this battle...we call Heroin ~ Below is an update we received yesterday My generalized email sent out to over 840 individuals representing agencies/institutions throughout the state of KY! A CALL FOR ACTION: Greetings to All! I am an addiction awareness advocate representing the Northern Kentucky Community- the epicenter for the current heroin epidemic that has rocked our state to its very core. For over three years we have been developing resolutions and making recommendations to our state regarding the stabilization and eventual eradication of this epidemic. Each year we have received little help from the policy makers of our state and each year the epidemic spreads farther into our state and is claiming more lives. I am tired of politely knocking on doors and asking for change from a government that refuses to educate itself on this disease. Our time to act is running out. Today we have a heroin epidemic, tomorrow we will wake up to find that we have become the highest ranking state in the country for overdose deaths and infectious diseases- this is not something I want Kentucky to be known for. We can change our future and offset the negative ramifications that will surely come if we continue to do nothing, but our future will be determined by those who are willing to get involved. I am leading a campaign out of Northern Kentucky to support a very important piece of legislation that will be going up for vote at this coming years General Assembly. Jeremy Engel, M. D. appeared before the Health & Welfare committee on February 27th, 2014 to make recommendations to the cabinet regarding fast and efficient resolutions to Kentucky’s heroin crisis. (Please see link for story and footage of his testimony before the cabinet) House Representative Tom Burch, listened attentively to Dr. Engel’s knowledge and expertise, and developed a bill that meets all of the recommendations made by Dr. Engel. That pre-filed bill number is BR195 and it is what Kentucky has been waiting for. BR195 will be invaluable to the citizens of this state as well as to the health care professionals who are working diligently against the disease of addiction. We must support this piece of legislation and we must let our General Assembly know that we support this legislation. We cannot wait another year! The longer we wait the more people in our community will die. Criminalization is not the answer- awareness, prevention, and treatment is the key! I reach out to you today as a fellow Kentucky citizen, not as representative of an agency or institution. I reach out to you in hopes that you share my passion for change, as well as my frustration towards a system that is failing our communities. It is my hope that you will share the following information with everyone that you know and that you will join us on January 6th, 2015 as citizens from all over the State of Kentucky march into our State’s Capitol to demand change. It is my hope that you will sign and share the petition in support of BR195. My people will be arriving in Frankfort on Tuesday, January 6th, 2015 at approximately 10:00 a.m. We will rally together in front of the Capitol and will then march into the rotunda of the Capitol, once there a select few will be testifying in front of the General Assembly, and handing over our unified voice (petition.) I hope to meet you there. You may contact me directly with any questions regarding the March on Frankfort and the Support BR195 petition. Warmest Regards, Jessica Padgett (KAATNIP) Petition to Support BR195: https://change.org/p/members-of-the-kentucky-general-as…
Posted on: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 22:49:14 +0000