The Free Press’s Helene St. James spoke with Red Wings play-by-play announcer Ken Daniels regarding the Jamie Daniels Foundation’s Celebrity Roast of Scotty Bowman, which airs tomorrow at 8 PM EDT on Fox Sports Detroit.
There’s an online auction which looks to raise funds for the foundation as well; while the roast is meant to evoke laughter and even tears, Daniels tells St. James that its message regarding addiction is deadly serious:
The event was supposed to take place in August, but Daniels realized in mid-April it had to be virtual. He also knew it had to happen.
“For those struggling with substance abuse disorder, COVID exacerbates the issue because of isolation,” Daniels said. “Overdose rates are way up in the state since COVID hit.”
University of Michigan experts say the pandemic has affected those with substance abuse issues in several ways and overdoses were up nearly 20% January-April 2020 compared to January-April 2019.
“If 4 million young adults get their wisdom teeth pulled across the U.S., 50,000 of those will have a substance abuse disorder attached to it. Because it’s too easy for doctors to say, here’s some oxycodone, here’s whatever you need, here’s some Vicodin when Tylenol 3 and Ibuprofen will work just as well,” Daniels said.
“That is what we are trying to do, to educate people. … People have to know that just because your doctor prescribes you an opioid doesn’t mean you have to take it.”
