Rep. Dowling announces panel to focus on addiction
Pennsylvania Rep. Matt Dowling, R-Uniontown, announced on Tuesday the formation of a new panel that will focus on the area’s struggles with addiction.
The Public Participation Panel on Addiction (PPP) will meet every other month at locations throughout the 51st Legislative District, with meetings taking place from 6 to 8 p.m., with doors opening at 5:30 p.m.
The first meeting is slated for Wed., Mar. 28, at the Mountain Fellowship Center in Markleysburg and will focus on faith-based recovery options in our area.
PPP meetings will focus on different facets of the addiction epidemic, Dowling said, adding that future meeting topics will be evidence-based prevention programs, first responders and emergency management service issues stemming from the epidemic.
“Conversations about addiction, (whether) opioid, other drug, or even alcohol and tobacco-related, help us to find answers as a community,” Dowling said.
The format of the meetings will give four experts on the evening’s topic five to 10 minutes for prepared marks, with questions and comments to then be taken from other attendees. Discussions will be moderated by Dowling and his staff.
Dowling said the panel is to be a partnership between the Fayette County Drug & Alcohol Commission, other community organizations and his office.
“Education is power,” said Jana Kyle, executive director of the Fayette County Drug & Alcohol Commission, adding that discussion and subsequent understanding different facets of addiction helps diminish the stigma attached to it.
Community organizations, churches, nonprofit organizations and businesses may join the PPP without any charge, Dowling said.
“We have invited organizations to become members of the PPP to show their commitment to ending this epidemic,” Dowling said. “Member organizations may be able to provide resources for our meetings, such as meeting spaces, subject matter experts, or provide topics that need to be discussed at future meetings.”
All community members are welcome to attend and are encouraged to RSVP online at RepDowling.com, but walk-in attendees will not be turned away, Dowling said.
Each PPP on Addiction meeting will be recorded and archived at PPPonAddiction.com and at RepDowling.com. Video will also be made available to local cable television stations for rebroadcast at their discretion.
In January, Dowling hosted a House Majority Policy Committee hearing on the effect of opioid abuse on children and youth in Farmington.
Dowling said that hearing brought to the forefront the innocent victims of addiction, primarily children and family members, but he added that he realized that the conversation about addiction was much larger than what the hearing’s speakers and committee members could fit into one afternoon.
“In my experience, public meetings about addiction have been well-attended,” Dowling said. ” … At times, the stigma of addiction prevents those in recovery from openly participating and sharing first-hand knowledge. I have had several meetings with addicts that are successfully in recovery. It has been helpful to hear about the processes that worked or did not work for them.”
“This is a problem that affects everybody,” Kyle said.