Louis Pearson’s Interview with Phil Tronolone
Louis Pimpinella’s Interview with Timothy Sennett
About the Authors
Louis Pearson’s Interview with Phil Tronolone
The analysis of the Staten Island Drug Epidemic with a Drug Counselor
“I believe in helping people, its in my nature. I think its the kind of thing you really cant teach, I don’t think..right? Like a job or a trade. There’s some thing just about counseling and therapy that are inherent in a person’s character. Substance abuse is close to me for a number of different reasons,” this was said by Phil Tronolone, a drug counselor at the YMCA. The drug crisis on Staten Island is something that has been intensified recently due to cheap drug access and social media spreading the whereabouts of the drugs. This year, Staten Island ranked highest in overdose rates among boroughs in New York City. While more people are overdosing, there are many people who overcame addiction and are willing to help the crisis come to an end. In an interview with Phil Tronolone of the YMCA, I learn the history of the epidemic in Staten Island from his point of view and the current attempts to stop it.
The problem involving drugs on Staten Island was not something that began on the island. A company called Purdue Pharma, which specializes in pharmaceuticals, introduced a new painkiller called Oxycontin. The primary use of Oxycontin is to treat those with extreme pain or for those terminally ill such as cancer patients. Instead of the actual use of the drug, teenagers found a use for it. They shot up the drug by crushing up the pill, which they accessed through their medicine cabinets or manipulating doctors in prescribing them medicines that they do not actually need. In the interview with Mr. Tronolone, he says that older people get these drugs to calm down pain symptoms rather than to abuse it, teenagers then could sneak these medications out without the older person knowing; he explains that “’I have chronic conditions’ and it begins getting treated with opiate medication, with narcotic painkillers” is the common response that he hears from older people who eventually become addicted to drugs like Oxycontin. This led to the New York Attorney General, Eric Schneiderman, to declare that the problem with drugs on Staten Island is officially an epidemic. This led to many crackdowns of storefront clinics who have unrightfully been giving out prescriptions. This was not too effective, while it made the drugs way too expensive to purchase on the street, heroin was the new drug of choice for Staten Island addicts. Between the years 2007 and 2012 the heroin usage had nearly doubled in America, from 373,000 to 669,000. Addicts who have broken from the habit have been seen trying to help the cause of stopping the epidemic. Daniel Haley was a former drug addict who explained his addiction in a YouTube video called My World Is Blue. It was a rap song about the struggle of addiction. He also explained that he would take pills from his own parents’ medicine cabinet and even his friends’ parents.
Phil Tronolone is a psychiatrist at the YMCA. He is also a recovering drug addict who is clean over seven years now. I met Phil through my friend and neighbor who also works in the psychiatric unit of the YMCA. I found this to be a great choice of an interview in order to support my thesis. Phil being a recovering drug addict was a perfect example of someone who broke their bad habits and decided to put their knowledge of addiction and pay it forward, helping others who may have trouble getting over the troubles of addiction.
Phil Tronolone began working at the YMCA as an intern. Phil explains that he
was part of the College of Staten Island’s CASAC Program. The CASAC program is the CREDENTIALED ALCOHOLISM AND SUBSTANCE ABUSE COUNSELOR, that’s currently my credentialing. I started here in the medically assisted program, the medically assisted program specifically deals with outpatient detox for opiate detox
He briefly left the YMCA, but he then returned and began doing therapy full time for the adult population of Staten Island. After being questioned about the origin of the drug problem on the island, he responded that the nature of addiction is not something that has changed. While the addiction problem is skyrocketing recently, he explains that “there’s nothing different about the presence of drugs obviously the drugs are in every neighborhood…Drug addiction doesn’t discriminate at all”. Phil also explained that the fact that he was a recovering addict was one of the reasons that he was attracted to the field, aside from his enjoyment of helping people. He started to counsel in his third or fourth year, but an important point that he stressed was that “I think its really important as a counselor to not disclose so its not part of my counseling process or counseling toolkit. I’m not here in this capacity as another recovering person.” The thing about being a counselor is that it relies on more skills than just experiences of addiction. He also relates the high amounts of prescription of painkillers and opiate pharmaceuticals due to the fact that Staten Islanders are people whose jobs typically call for hard labor.
The interview with Phil was split into four main parts, these parts being: first, there was an introduction to who Phil was. The second part of the interview was the origin of the drug epidemic on Staten Island. The third part consisted on the typical demographic that became dependent, the way the medicine is distributed, and the main reason behind why addiction happened to this extent on the island. The fourth part is recovery, the process of recovery and how people can recover. Phil proves that people who may have been initially overcome by drug addiction can eventually turn it around, recover and pay it forward by gaining the necessary skills to help out other struggling addicts. Phil also explains that there are many ways that other addicts who struggle can help others: “there are a number of different self help groups that meet on Staten Island. You have Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous, Pills Anonymous.” These groups are for people who feel they can only get help by being anonymous, whether they are secretly ashamed to admit they are addicted, or they would just rather get help from people who are in the same shoes as them. He also explains that Staten Island may not get as much funding as it should because Staten Island is a suburb, a place that generally consists of families: “I feel a lot of people are really taken back by the presence of heroin and IV drug use in the neighborhoods and areas that people typically don’t associate with IV drug use.” If Staten Island were to get proper funding and awareness, Phil believes that there would be less of an addiction problem. This is because he believes that the main problem is a lack of education about the drug coming from both the physician and the patient: “I think it comes with lack of accountability and lack of education at the end of the day.” These are just a few ways that the drug problem on Staten Island can be handled.
Phil Tronolone is a recovering addict, but he has taken his time to counsel those who are also struggling. This was from his belief to help people, and his closeness with the world of drug abuse. This supports the idea that although the drug problem can physically and mentally take over people when they are addicted, people can recover and take on a new role as an advocate for the end of the problem that resides on Staten Island. Another example that supports this claim is Daniel Haley, who took to social media and YouTube to create awareness for the drug problem via a rap song explaining the struggles of abuse and how it is hard to overcome. These are just a few examples of the people who have struggled with addiction on Staten Island and have started a new part of their life where they are helping others break the same struggle that they did.
Louis Pimpinella’s Interview with Timothy Sennett
Pimpinella Interview Transcript
Analysis of the Drug Epidemic from a Religious Point of View
“I think connecting people who are addicted with other people who are addicted and who are seeking help to give them brothers and sisters in the pursuit of freedom, I think that would be especially helpful”. There has a been a drug epidemic on Staten Island that has been growing continuously for the past few years. This quote was made by Timothy Sennett, a religion teacher at St. Joseph by the Sea High School, and it shows how people can help each other when they are in need of help. This problem affects many people, not just those addicted to drugs. Families and friends of addicts are also affected by this situation, which is something that people often forget when it comes to this problem. Many places are trying to help put a stop to this, including drug rehab facilities as well as religious institutions. These places are trying to help people who are addicted to drugs, as well as prevent people from becoming addicted. The YMCA is an organization trying to prevent this, with its drug rehab facilities. This organization has branches dedicated to helping those who are already abusing drugs, as well as branches dedicated to prevention in teens. Prevention, not just rehabilitation plays a big role in trying to solve this problem. Another facility helping with this problem is Our Lady Star of the Sea, or OLSS. OLSS is a church that provides talks and support groups to people who are addicted to drugs, families of addicts, and teens that could potentially become addicted. While there are some attempts to help the drug addiction problem within the catholic church, there is church-wide attempt to try and fight this issue.
Religions have different views on drug use. Timothy Sennett, provided insight on the Christian perspective of this issue. Being a Catholic religion teacher, he was able to offer Catholic views on drug use and on the large drug problem on Staten Island. He, working on Staten Island, knows that this is a large scale problem and knows what effects that it can have on individuals as well as families. He knows, and teaches, what the Catholic Church believes and so he can express what the church’s opinion on drugs abuse, drug addicts, and rehabilitation is. “Well, from what I’ve read about its not as as big a problem in Brooklyn as it is on Staten Island. I read a couple years ago that between 2010 and 2012, the death rate that has resulted from opiate overdoses has risen something like 80 plus percent“. He is aware of this problem because he lives in New York. He knows about what the catholic church saying about this issue recently, and he knows what the Catholic church has been teaching about this issue in the past. All of this, even though he does not work with drugs or drug rehab, allow him to knowledgably talk about this topic. He also teaches teenagers and can try to express this teaching to try to help prevent them from becoming addicted.
Timothy Sennett was a theology major is college and planned to work in a parish or diocesan office. He had worked in offices and realized that that was not for him. He eventually decided that he wanted to teach students instead of working in an office so he got a job teaching. He believed it was a hard job at first, since it is such a difficult subject to teach, especially to high school student. He said that “because I’m not just imparting data like I might be in a math class or a history class, I’m trying to put my students into touch with a person, namely Christ, and that requires a whole different set of skills…” Even though he lives in Brooklyn, he has experience with Staten Island because the school that he teaches in is located there.
Timothy Sennett was able to provide an interesting perspective on this issue as well as relate it to what the Catholic Church thinks. According to him, all drug use, except for things like medicine, are not allowed by the Catholic church. Within many religions drug use is prohibited, Catholicism being no exception. The church teaches that drug abuse damages a person’s body and that “when we abuse drugs, we diminish our ability to be free, we diminish our ability to make free choices.” The issue of drugs within the church has been talked about recently at higher levels of the church. “Pope Francis a couple years ago spoke out against legalized marijuana. So its not just at the local level, its very much spoken about at the upper level of the churches hierarchy.” While this issue has been talked about in the upper levels of the church, it hasn’t really made a big impact. There aren’t many churches that are directly speaking against this issue or trying to help put a stop to it. While there has been some individual churches and individual priests trying to put an end to this, there hasn’t been a large scale call against it within the church.
Religious institutions do not usually speak about the issues of drug abuse. He said that these issues, drug abuse and addiction, are not usually talked about within churches because they are such a controversial issue. He said that priests are more concerned with getting people to come to mass and preaching the gospel than dealing with social issues. He mentioned that these issues can possibly be fixed by the priests preaching, but that the priests do not directly try to fight the issue. He said that there are other issues that are happening as well throughout the world. Issues like violence are also not talked about within the churches because they are also controversial issues. Priests want to get all of the people within their church as they can so that they can preach the gospel to as many people as possible. If they talk about these issues, some people may not come back. Their job is not to help with social issues, it is to spread the message in the bible, which is why this issue isn’t brought up much. Religious laypeople also aren’t talking about this issue much. “I’m not saying that there is nobody that should be talking about it but I can’t think of any compelling reasons that it should be the church that church goers should be talking about it more than church leaders.” This may be because there isn’t much being done to fight this issue by people who are higher up in the church. If the priests, bishops, or even the pope were to speak more about this issue, then laypeople may also start to speak against this issue. This could cause more churches to help put an end to this issue, which can really help in solving it.
There are some important ways that this problem can be mitigated and even stopped. He believes that teaching people and helping them get in touch with religion can help to stop this problem. He also said that this is not enough however, and that we still need participation from all other people to try to put an end to this issue. He said that “I think a lack of sense of community can be a cause of it, and religious institutions can provide such a community that might prevent one from being tempted to seek out drugs in the first place.” For this problem to be dealt with people need to form communities, which they do. Religious communities are just one example of groups that can help support the people that are addicted to drugs. Religion also gives people something to turn to when they feel like they have nothing else, which may be able to help people stuck in this situation. While community, religious community and non-religious community, is important, these people also need to have the proper medical care to allow them to be able to live without drugs. This is where, as he said, the balance of both religious and non-religious is necessary for this issue. Both of these aspects are important for helping people get off of drugs or preventing them from starting drugs.
Even though drug use is condemned by the church, not much is being done to stop this issue. Some churches are providing help, and priests are spreading catholic teaching which says that drug use isn’t allowed, but there is no large scale fight against this problem. The church as a whole isn’t trying to put a stop to this issue. If this issue was talked about by church officials more, then there would be more done to try to stop this. This is a problem that affects many people and their families, which is why more should be done to help prevent this.
Louis Pearson:
Louis is a freshman at the College of Staten Island in the Macaulay Honors College. He is a Computer Science/Mathematics major and wishes to become a Software Engineer in the future.
Louis Pimpinella:
Louis is a freshman at the College of Staten Island in the Macaulay Honors College. He is a Chemistry major and also wishes to pursue a minor in Music.
