by Denise Allabaugh | Aug 8, 2018
Six-year-old Kayden Blaker drew angels for a month after his father died of an overdose of heroin and fentanyl in December 2017. “He’s in counseling,” said his mother, Cassandra. “It was really tough at first. He would say, ‘Mom, I wish I could just go and bring him...
by Denise Allabaugh | Aug 8, 2018
One of the biggest issues facing young children growing up in households affected by addiction is an inability to bond, says Jessy Miller, director of drug and alcohol programs at Children’s Service Center in Wilkes-Barre. “It’s important during the formative years to...
by Michael P. Buffer | Jul 24, 2018
After Matthew Swiderski died at 29 from an overdose Nov. 1, his family had a choice when writing his obituary. His struggles with addiction could have remained a private family matter, but they chose to help remove the stigma around addiction by being forthcoming. “We...
by Michael P. Buffer | Jul 24, 2018
When Charles L. “Chaz” Perez III died in April one day before his 30th birthday, his father wanted to disclose why, and his son’s obituary noted he “lost his battle with heroin addiction.” “Everyone in my family was in 100 percent support of wording it exactly like...
by Michael P. Buffer | Jul 15, 2018
When Lauren Stewart and her 9-year-old son, Jacob Lanning, were watching “The Dark Knight,” Jacob was curious about the actor who played the Joker. “He asked why Heath Ledger wasn’t in the other Batmans, and I had to explain that he died the same way Dad did,” Stewart...
by Michael P. Buffer | Jul 15, 2018
The increasing toll of opioid deaths in recent years has coincided with the growing use of the Darknet, an unregulated, largely anonymous part of the Internet that often facilitates the sale of illegal drugs — especially the synthetic opioid fentanyl. The first...
