Orthodox family speaks out about opioid abuse in religious community
Elana Forman was only 13 when she began her descent into the world of alcohol and drugs.
It began with drinking and marijuana, she said. “I felt alienated and lonely and scared of life. …When I would drink or use, I felt like I could accomplish anything.”
But she feared that if she told anyone in her tight-knit Orthodox Jewish enclave in Teaneck, she would be shunned or labeled a “bad kid.”