Colorful portraits show faces of New Hampshire drug crisis
Colorful portraits show faces of New Hampshire drug crisis
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — At the New Hampshire State Library's latest art exhibit, the bright smiles and bold colors of the canvases belied the broken hearts of those who attended its opening reception.
What started as one mother's private outlet for grief has grown into a larger effort to comfort others and reduce the stigma of addiction.
[...] wanting to remember her daughter's beauty and vibrancy, she experimented with a posterized style featuring bright pinks and purples contrasting with stark black and white.
Zanfagna began getting requests for portraits after she brought the painting to a grief support group, and the requests poured in after NPR featured her story in 2015.
In a recent report, Dartmouth College researchers said New Hampshire's disproportionately high rate of opioid overdoses is the result of prescription practices, underfunded and scarce treatment options and the state's proximity to the drug supply chain.
The state's death rate due to synthetic opioids, mainly fentanyl, increased by nearly 1,600 percent from 2010 to 2015.