BREAKING ADDICTION'S HOLD

Hundreds Join Hands Across The Bridge To Inspire, Recognize Those Confronting
Substance Abuse

When doctors told Patty Katz that if she kept using heroin they'd have to
amputate her arms, she practiced holding a syringe with her toes.

Addiction is strong, Katz said, but she wants the community to know that
recovery can be stronger.

Now, Katz is helping other addicts recover. She's the community coordinator for
the Asian/Pacific American Consortium on Substance Abuse and she helped
organize Hands Across the Bridge on Monday.

At the event a group of about 450 people who are recovering from drug and
alcohol addiction, or supporting someone who is, linked hands across the
Interstate 5 Bridge to show that people can overcome their addiction and become
success stories.

Clark County Commissioner Craig Pridemore, who spoke to the group, read a
proclamation declaring September alcohol and drug addiction recovery month.
Interpreters for the deaf signed to hearing-impaired participants.

It's the second time the event has been held, with help from a list of sponsors
including Katz's organization, Clark County Department of Community Services,
Clark County Drug Court and other Portland-area organizations.

Giving up an addiction usually means giving up your friends, giving up your old
home, and making a totally new life for yourself, Katz said. After getting
sober in jail, Katz didn't go home. She went straight to a 12-step meeting,
then went to stay with a friend. She had lived with other drug addicts, and to
avoid them and the drugs, she didn't go home even to get her clothes, or her
car.

People need help making that transition, Katz said. "When people are ready for
recovery, there needs to be a window of opportunity," she said.

Recovery isn't treatment, she emphasized. Treatment is the first step, but
afterwards, people need to have somewhere to go besides their old neighborhood
and their old friends, where drugs are easily available. They need a place to
go where they can get a job and make a new life.

"I had to learn how to look people in the eye," Katz said. Part of her recovery
was learning that she was good enough to befriend or work with "regular
people."

There's work for volunteers as mentors for recovering addicts, Katz said.

Recovering addicts need encouragement, she said, "to do the next right thing."