TIFTON — The Faces of Addiction forum that took place on Tuesday, June 20 drew in participants of all ages to listen to personal stories of those impacted directly by addiction.

Greg Horne, the Reverend Lester Burkes and Harriet Felts all shared their personal stories of addiction.

Horne and Burkes both struggled with addiction from an early age, while Felts began as a young adult.

All three shared their stories of their recovery process, emphasizing that it is different for everyone, and that the addict has to want to recover for any program to work.

Pat Daly and Dr. Marsha Holloway both shared how addiction had impacted their lives and families. Both of them have children who have struggled with addiction.

Daly agreed that programs are important and beneficial for people who want help, and said that if one program doesn’t work, to try another one.

Holloway pointed out that the families of addicts need just as much help and support as the addicts themselves.

Judge Herbert Benson, who sits on the Tift County State Court, is one of the leading forces behind the push to educate Tift County residents about drug addiction, particularly opioid and prescription drug abuse.

During the forum, Benson said that he hopes educating people about addiction will erase some of the stigma around addiction and will enable Tift County to bring in more resources to treat people locally.

“We’re not going to have the resources we need unless people know what a big problem it is,” he said.

This was the second public forum about drug addiction in Tift County.

Sponsors included the Tifton Judicial Circuit Accountability Courts and the Tifton Housing Authority.

The first forum, which was held on May 10, featured speakers who spoke about the overall drug addiction problem in Tift County and its effect on individuals, families and the larger community.

It was standing room only, denoting a large amount of interest in the topic.

For more information contact Herbert Benson at (229) 386-7921 or herbert.benson@tiftcounty.org.