Film to put a face to addiction in Lynn

LYNN – The filmmakers refer to the 23 million sufferers of addictions as anonymous, but a group of local residents, public health workers and addiction sufferers will gather Tuesday evening to put a face to addiction.”I decided we have to do something, enough is enough,” Mary Gentleman, whose son is recovering from an opiate addiction, said Friday. “I know (social services) do a lot, but it has to take a whole community – police, businesses, residents, emergency workers, everybody.”Gentleman and several of her friends from Learn to Cope, a network of support groups for families dealing with addiction, have organized a free informational forum about addiction Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Lynn Memorial Auditorium at City Hall. The event begins with an exhibition where local groups and service agencies who help those struggling with addiction will be available with information and resources.Groups include Learn to Cope, the Massachusetts Organization for Addiction Recovery, Wicked Sober, Bags of Hope Ministries, The Family Restored, The Northeast Independent Living Program, Healthy Streets Outreach Program, and others.The feature presentation of the night is a screening of “The Anonymous People,” a 2013 feature-length documentary film about the more than 23 million Americans who are in long-term recovery for drug and alcohol addiction.The evening concludes with a panel discussion, including two parents who have children dealing with addictions (Gentleman referred to them as “parents in recovery – because it affects us too”) as well as two individuals currently in long-term recovery.Gentleman said she has long wanted to see “The Anonymous People,” but had never made it to a showing of the film. She had other issues on her mind. Gentleman’s son has been struggling with addiction for the past decade – first with alcohol, then painkillers and finally heroin.Gentleman said an important lesson about addiction is that “everyone has his or her own path to sobriety,” which she and her friends tried to reflect with the different groups presenting information at the event.But her son’s struggle – and, equally important, her family’s struggle – with addiction is nevertheless a story to which many can relate. Gentleman spoke of a family susceptibility to addiction and her own, and those of her relatives’, early struggles with sobriety. She detailed her son’s experimentation with alcohol and drugs, multiple trips to detox, in-state and out-of-state treatment centers, a relapse, and return to sobriety.Gentleman also mentioned the issues that make addiction so difficult to discuss ? and so anonymous – for example, treating opiate addiction with suboxone and methadone, of the term “junkie” and describing users as “clean” or “dirty,” and if or when family support crosses into enabling.She said these were ongoing debates with which she and her family and friends continue to struggle; but these debates should nevertheless be shared. And when she saw other communities offering screenings of “The Anonymous People,” she decided she had to bring it to Lynn. An employee in the comptroller’s office at City Hall, she and her friends enlisted the Health Department to use grant money for the screening, secured a venue, and started marketing and outreach efforts.”You can’t sit back and do nothing; it’s just not fair,” Gentleman said. “Thankfully more and more people are saying enough is enough.”