RICHMOND, Va. — A forum on Tuesday brought together delegates, candidates and community leaders to address critical issues surrounding addiction, treatment and recovery programs across the Commonwealth.
The question-and-answer session highlighted ongoing challenges faced by those in recovery, with advocates emphasizing the need for greater representation in policy discussions.
One recovery advocate stressed the importance of including people with lived experience in decision-making processes.
"Historically, recovering people don't never get a seat at the table, and they end up only being on the menu, and that's just not good," said John Shinholser, a harm reduction consultant and co-founder of the McShan foundation. "We got a lot of work to do in this community and in this space, got a lot of work to do with policy."
Andrew MacBean, a veteran of recovery programs, acknowledged progress made in recent years while recognizing continued challenges ahead.
"Still, a lot of work to be done, for sure, but it's been great considering what it was 5 to 10 years ago, it's a new ball game, and that's awesome." he said. "So people like me who have a criminal past and a background, we're not necessarily—if we play into our disease, to our addictions, we're not looking at lengthy prison sentences just because we're addicts. That's huge."
The event was facilitated by the Virginia Association of Addiction Professionals and the Substance Abuse and Addiction Recovery Alliance.
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