Moving Starke County Forward Hosts Overdose Awareness Service

Posted on Author WKVI
Overdose Awareness 1
Aaron Kochar from Porter-Starke Services lights a candle in memory of a life lost to a drug overdose. A total of 61 candles were lit during last evening’s ceremony.

Community members paused last night at Wythogan Park to celebrate the 61 Starke County lives lost to drug overdoses over the past seven years as well as those who are in long-term recovery. Aaron Kochar is the director of prevention and education at Porter-Starke Services. He says people are now more likely to die from a fatal overdose than from a car accident.

“Up until last year, if you died in an accident it was some sort of motor vehicle accident. Now it’s overdose. Another statistic that is concerning is the fact that while a number of people will die in overdose from heroin, in fact we’ve got about three times the number who will die from a prescription opioid overdose.” Continue reading →

Substance Abuse Counselor Discusses Overdose Epidemic

Posted on Author WKVI
Overdose awareness
The ribbons on the lawn at IU Health Starke Hospital represent local victims of overdoses over the past seven years.

Advocates and community members will pause tomorrow evening to remember the 61 lives lost to drug overdoses in the past seven years in Starke County. Aaron Kochar is a substance abuse counselor at Porter-Starke Services. He says methamphetamine used to be the biggest drug problem locally, but opioids and heroin have caught up.

Kochar says drug use is a significant problem. Continue reading →