Moser Invited to State of Union, Discusses Opioid Crisis
Exeter’s Executive Assistant to the Director of Institutional Advancement, Jeanne Moser, spoke at assembly on Friday, Jan. 26, sharing the tragic story of her son’s death due to an opioid overdose. Moser has worked to ensure that no other family suffers this same tragedy by starting the “Zero Left” Campaign to combat opioid abuse and addiction. Because of her tireless work, New Hampshire Senator Jeanne Shaheen invited Moser to attend President Trump’s State of the Union Address on Jan. 30.
“It is our hope that education about the risks associated with the use of opioids is made a routine practice when these medications are prescribed."
After losing her son, Moser initiated the “Zero Left” movement to raise awareness about opioid abuse and to educate people on the proper disposal of prescription pills. The campaign has distributed drug deactivation pouches and installed designated prescription drug deposit boxes at hospitals and other select locations.
Thanks to her efforts, Moser earned the honor of being invited to attend the State of the Union. Each senator is permitted to bring only one guest. While in Washington, D.C., Moser had the opportunity to discuss her “Zero Left” campaign with senators. “It is our hope that education about the risks associated with the use of opioids is made a routine practice when these medications are prescribed. It was moving to hear about all the many heroic people across the country who were special guests of the president,” Moser said. However, she felt that the president had fallen short in his efforts to combat this issue. “It was disappointing that the president only mentioned the opioid crisis towards the end of his address,” Moser said. “He recognized the need for treatment and recovery, but there was no mention of funding for programs of any kind. It is our hope that the president will fulfill his promise.”
The nation continues to grapple with an increasing amount of opioid abuse—statistics tell the sad story of lives ruined by cycles of overprescription, overuse and addiction. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, prescription and illicit opioids are the main driver of drug overdose deaths. New Hampshire leads the nation in deaths per capita from fentanyl, which has virtually replaced heroin across New England, according to a recent New York Times exposé. Calling the crisis a “scourge [that] has ravaged New Hampshire,” the Times reported that 53 percent of New Hampshire adults in a recent poll listed drugs as the biggest problem facing the state, the first time in the poll’s history that a majority of adults named a single issue.
New Hampshire doctors have also prescribed “significantly higher rates” of opioid pain relievers, twice the national average. New Hampshire spends a smaller amount per capita on services to assist addicts and “ranks at the bottom in availability of treatment programs,” the Times article reported.
Commonly prescribed under brand names such as Subsys or Abstral, fentanyl is a synthetic opioid medication used to treat pain relief, and is around 50 times stronger than heroin and a hundred times more potent than morphine. Moser’s son, Adam, passed away from a fentanyl overdose in 2015. He was 27 years old. Adam had graduated from Exeter High School in 2006. While in high school, he was a star member of the Blue Hawks football team, going on to graduate from Temple University in 2011. Throughout his life, Adam was passionate about history, particularly World War II and the Civil War era. He was also an avid fisherman, and appeared on National Geographic’s reality show “Wicked Tuna.”
Just days after his death, Mr. and Mrs. Moser spoke openly about what had happened to Adam in the hope that their words would bring help to others. “This is not just a parents-talk-to-your-kids thing,” Ms. Moser said in an interview with a local news outlet at the time. “Friends, talk to your friends. If a friend confides in you, tell somebody. Don’t worry about getting into trouble or not.”
As another facet of her “Zero Left” campaign, Moser hopes to utilize a documentary made about her son in conjunction with Narrow Street Films, called “Just One Time,” to educate the general public about the opioid crisis. The movie is available for free on YouTube and comes with a lesson plan that aims to teach students about the dangers of prescription opioid medications and how to combat these risks of addiction and abuse.
After playing the documentary for Exonians at the Assembly Hall, Moser cited her son’s sad death as an example of the way any sort of drug addiction ruins lives. Upper Niko Amber appreciated Moser’s courage to talk about an issue that continues to affect many Americans. “[Moser] gave us an anecdote of a problem that is very prevalent in the Seacoast area and the country, and she was able to connect with students because of that,” Amber said. “Her personal story is very much a part of the “State of the Union” because obviously, [the opioid crisis] is affecting the country in so many ways. She is just one representation of that.” Post-graduate Ted Aiken also acknowledged the power of Moser’s story. “The assembly clearly illustrated Exeter’s proximity to the opioid crisis, and opened my eyes to the way in which drug abuse is a non-discriminatory condition,” Aiken said.