Group to hold vigil against heroin in Cecil Township
Notice: Undefined variable: article_ad_placement3 in /usr/web/cs-washington.ogdennews.com/wp-content/themes/News_Core_2023_WashCluster/single.php on line 128
A new grassroots anti-drug organization will hold a candlelight vigil Wednesday in Cecil Township to raise awareness about heroin addiction.
Not One More Pittsburgh will hold the event, which also will include speakers and recovery stories, from 7 to 9 p.m. in Cecil Township Park, 3640 Millers Run Road.
“We’re looking to create an awareness for people who are not users,” said group founder Laura Propst of Beaver County. “The problem is just everywhere. You can’t get away from it. There are so many horror stories.”
Not One More was founded in Simi Valley, Calif., as part of a city’s effort to deal with a heroin epidemic, and Pittsburgh became home to its first chapter, Propst said. Several similar meetings have been held over the past year in the region, hosted by Southwest Medical Center in Charleroi.
Propst said the Washington County coroner’s office is expected to send a representative to the event, which also is designed to encourage addicts into recovery.
Washington County has seen a dramatic increase in the past two years in the number of drug overdose deaths. At least six people died in the county in June from a killer heroin in circulation.
Propst said Not One More hopes to hold such events in all of the counties surrounding Pittsburgh.
“We’re going to find a way to make this work in the community.”