South Middlesex Times

Patricia Roos, a Rutgers University Sociology Professor Emerita, has released a memoir detailing her son Alex Clarke's battle with addiction. The book, titled "Surviving Alex: A Mother’s Story of Love, Loss, and Addiction," was published by Rutgers University Press in May.

Roos openly included addiction as the cause of death in Alex's obituary following his heroin overdose at age 25. "Writing the obituary was my first act of activism," she said. "I wanted Alex’s life to mean something, for him not to be just another statistic."

In her memoir, Roos examines systemic factors contributing to addiction and critiques the reliance on the criminal justice system to address the overdose crisis. She hopes to reach both those affected by addiction and those who believe it could never impact their families.

Roos will discuss her book at an event on Thursday, Sept. 26 at Rutgers Global Village Living Learning Center in New Brunswick. The event includes a panel discussion on harm reduction methods and a Q&A session.

"I feel a deep sense of purpose to push for a public health strategy over a criminal justice strategy," Roos said.

Despite recent data showing a decline in overdose deaths between April 2023 and April 2024, more than 101,000 lives were lost during that period. Since 2021, annual overdose deaths have exceeded 100,000 in the United States.

Following Alex's death on May 11, 2015, Roos shifted her research focus from inequality and gender issues to addiction. She argues that current models overlook societal factors such as poverty and mental health issues that contribute to addiction.

"We need to look at the broader context," she said. For Alex, anxiety and depression were key factors driving his substance use.

Alex grew up in Metuchen and attended private school in Edison. Despite being popular and athletic in high school with plans to become a doctor, he struggled with substance use starting with alcohol and marijuana before progressing to heroin during college.

His struggles led to multiple arrests and stints in rehabilitation programs without long-term success due largely to the predominance of abstinence-only treatments at that time.

"The 12-step program didn’t work for him," Roos noted.

Since publishing her book, Roos has collaborated with Christina Dent from Mississippi on advocating for treating addiction as a public health issue rather than through punishment. They agree on several reforms including medication-assisted treatment and decriminalization of drug possession.

Roos emphasizes the need for comprehensive healthcare access: "Ultimately we need to recognize that health care is a right."

Reflecting on her son's experience underlines her advocacy efforts: “I think if we had lived in a harm-reduction world when Alex was going through this, Alex could still be alive,” she said.