The founder of an Altoona substance use disorder support group will be in Washington D.C. this week advocating to Congress with the national advocacy group Drug Policy Alliance, along with other parents impacted by drug addiction.
Marianne Sinisi is the founder of Families United for Change. She started the group after losing her son Shawn to an overdose in 2018. He was also one of Jerry Sandusky’s victims in the sexual abuse case at Penn State. She wants continued federal funding to treatment programs, Narcan and research.
“I feel like a lot of the politicians want to use the parents that lost somebody to fentanyl and boost, you know, the wall, the border, the going after Mexico," Sinisi said.
In March, the Trump administration cancelled billions of dollars in COVID-era funding for grants related to addiction, mental health and other programs, and in his budget proposal Trump suggests cutting millions to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which oversees harm reduction programs.
In many recommendations, Sinisi said Trump shifts funding responsibility to the states, for example for the overdose reversal drug Narcan.
“The states won't be able to afford to give it out for free right now," Sinisi said. "And I know tons of people that have a loved one that suffers and say, 'How do I afford to go pay $50 for a box of Narcan?'”
Sinisi said drug treatment programs and widely-available Narcan have helped drug overdose deaths drop in the past few years.
"Why would you take away what is now working for us, to maybe possibly go backwards and have more parents suffer, more children losing their parents?" Sinisi said. "It's really heartbreaking."
According to the CDC, drug overdose deaths have either stayed relatively steady or dropped since 2022, but some of that data is still under review.
