Frankie Giammonta and the medicine drop-offs that could save lives

I caught an earlier than expected Amtrak train from Newark Airport, New Jersey to New Haven Connecticut yesterday (26th) where the 1st stage of my Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Fellowship begins today when I meet up for lunch with Cheryle Pacapelli, Director of Operations to the Connecticut Community of addiction Recovery (CCAR) and Curtis Kolodney, CCAR Recovery Housing Manager.

Since 1998, CCAR has been organizing the recovery community to do two things: to put a face on recovery and to provide recovery support services. In order to achieve these two goals CCAR run the following programmes: Telephone Recovery Support; Recovery Housing Project; Volunteer Management; Recovery Orientated Employment; Recovery community Centres; Recovery Coach Academy; Recovery Training Series and Advocacy.

I hope to look at their Addiction Recovery Housing Project whereby Recovery House owners are invited to participate in the Recovery Housing Coalition of Connecticut which, evidence suggests, elevates recovery outcomes. I’ll be fascinated to learn how the Recovery Housing Coalition of Connecticut has ‘become a group of very passionate owners who want to ensure the quality of recovery houses in CT’.

I’m also interested in learning how their Recovery Community Centres serve a clubhouse function in terms of recovery fellowship, but also how they offer a much wider spectrum of recovery support services than would be available in a typical AA clubhouse, and how they serve as an organizing place for recovery advocacy activities.

But more of these matters on another day and in a future blog.

Whilst travelling yesterday I read an interesting article in the New York Times, which cost me $5 and the environment a whole forest-full of trees, I’d say. It described an initiative in Worcester, Massachusetts whereby residents were offered a drug amnesty and invited to empty homes of legal but dangerous drugs that the authorities say are driving addiction and crime around the country.

According to the NY Times reporter, some of the people who showed up did not want to identify themselves or discuss what brought them out, silently dumping their pills into boxes provided by the Drug Enforcement Administration and hurrying off. Others said they were dropping off drugs that had belonged to relatives who were now dead, or elderly people who had let medicines pile up in their homes for too long

This is an initiative that could so easily be replicated in Wales and throughout the wider U.K. and at little cost. In my book, No Room to Live, (see www.welshcouncil.org.uk or www.amazon.co.uk!) I describe how, when I was younger, I became a friend of the elderly in my village. This was when I was 12 or 13 years old and already psychologically addicted to my mother’s strong sleeping pills. I’d visit these old women late at night and, while they’d be out the back preparing tea and biscuits for “the kind minister’s son”, I’d be frantically rummaging through their cupboards looking for any drugs I could get my hands on.

During this period, I swallowed all kinds of pills – for high blood pressure, low blood pressure, water retention, kidney, bladder, bowel problems, etc – and suffered all kinds of side effects!

I don’t think many youngsters today begin their journey to oblivion and misery by doing what I did. But I’m sure that some of them at least begin experimenting with drugs by stealing them from their own parents’ medicine cabinets. Providing drop-offs, similar to the ones in Worcester, Massachusetts, could be an effective and long overdue way of clearing out all medicine cabinets in Wales and beyond. And who knows, an initiative of this kind might even end up saving lives.


On the train, I got chatting to Frankie Giammonta, a 17 years old New Yorker who was travelling up to Boston where she’s a High School pupil at a public school there. Frankie plays for the Boston Shamrocks, a women’s ice hockey team, so her place of education kind of followed her chosen sport. Next year she hopes to major in Physical Education at one of the many U.K. universities who specialise in her subject.

Frankie’s dad, a fire-fighter, was killed in the 9/11 terrorist atrocity, and most of Frankie’s spare time is taken up with helping others whose lives are or have been affected by terrorism acts. Frankie herself refused all counselling offers of help at the time. She hated that “formal” relationship which sometimes exists between therapist and client. She hated also the language used and the therapist’s inability to empathise properly. “Nobody could possibly comprehend what we went through” she said. “So why pretend they could?”

She organises weekend camps for young people affected by terrorism from all over the world. “We encourage them to engage in all kinds of sports activities: water skiing, soccer, playing pool, gymnastics and tennis. We even play Gaelic football!”
“Gaelic football!” I said rather surprisingly.
“Yes, one of the counsellors comes from Ireland and he taught us how to play the game.”
“But I thought you said you hated counselling.”
“Oh I do” she said. “But his type of counselling is different and it definitely works. You see, we’re not even aware that it’s going on. It happens naturally whilst we’re engaged in other activities. We also surround these kids with people who’ve had similar experiences to them – with people who can genuinely empathise.”

We then talked about drug use in her sport. “The use of performance enhancing drugs definitely does not go on in ice hockey sport!” she retorted.
“What about your friends?” I asked rather gingerly, “do they take drugs?”
“My friends come from New York where there’s plenty to do – they don’t take drugs. It’s the people who live in places like Billerica, for example, where there’s nothing to do – that’s where drug taking is rife.
I’ve been lucky” she went on. “I have a very good group of friends: I don’t do drugs; they don’t do drugs. We’re all pretty active kids doing all kinds of other things: sport, going to the movies, eating out – I like Italian food” and she laughed and pointed to a pack of spaghetti protruding from a bag above our heads on a rack.
“Who’s your favourite actor?” I asked.
“Ryan Reynolds…..he was in Proposal and Just Friends….?”
“Never heard of him” I said.

And with that the train pulled into Hartford and our conversation had to end. As I exited the train she shouted after me, “It’s our involvement in sport - that’s been our biggest saving grace from drugs.”
“I’ll tell everyone about it” I said. And I have.

And what piece of music am I listening to right now? It’s Wild Horses (Susan Boyle Tribute Version) from Emotional Moment. Exquisite!

Good night everyone.


Mae'r tywydd wedi oeri'n arw ers nos Sadwrn gyda'r glaw yn syrthio'n gyson yma drwy'r dydd heddiw. Mae popeth yn mynd yn dda yma a minnau'n setlo yn y gwesty. Am logi car yfory. Mae'n amhosib teithio yma heb gar. Rydw i wedi cael ffon symudol (lleol) arall hefyd gan fod costau'r un sydd gen i mor uchel. Un cysur yw fod y cyswllt rhyngrwyd i'w gael am ddim yn y gwesty hwn. Nos dawch.