Second Annual Rally for Recovery

Singer Smokey Robinson performed and New York Gov. David Paterson spoke at the second annual Recovery Rally, held this weekend in New York City.

NY1 reported Sept. 12 that the event attracted thousands of individuals in recovery from alcohol and other drug addictions, who marched across the Brooklyn Bridge as a way of spreading the message that recovery is possible.

“This is solidarity,” Elisia Dones, a former prescription-drug addict who has been sober 30 years told WPIX. “People need to know I’m talking to someone whose walked down the same road as me … and you came out of it so I know I can too.”

The A&E Network again sponsored the event. “Twenty-one million Americans suffer from addiction so we are trying to find ways to build connections between that community and the people who know how to get them help,” said A&E President Robert DeBitetto.

“There are people who quietly are able to go to work and conduct their lives and have this addiction that they can’t escape,” said Paterson, who touted the recent reform of the state’s harsh Rockefeller-era drug laws. “So with the increased services of New York State and us focusing national attention on this issue we can hopefully bring closure to this national epidemic.”

“I have been where you are,” said singer Robinson during his concert at Cadman Plaza. “One day free should let you know that you can be free forever.”

Similar events and rallies were held elsewhere around the country on Saturday, as well.