In rural Snohomish County, outreach workers unpack stigma of addiction

MONROE — Seeing opioid use disorder up close, day in and day out, has made Garret Winfrey reevaluate his approach as a police officer. It’s clear people on drugs like fentanyl have “changed brains,” said Winfrey, the community outreach officer for Monroe.

April Provost agrees. She has been in recovery for about five years.

“Imagine that you’re starving and you’re locked in a cell away from food for several days,” said Provost, of Everett, who co-leads the Snohomish County Recovery Coalition. “All you can think about is how hungry you are. That’s what it’s like.”

Barriers to opioid use disorder recovery run deep in Snohomish County. Local leaders and recovery advocates say the first step to tear down those barriers is open conversation.

https://www.heraldnet.com/news/in-rural-snohomish-county-outreach-workers-unpack-stigma-of-addiction/