Growing up, Allegheny County Councilperson Bethany Hallam always had an addictive personality. The first time she tried mac and cheese as a child, her parents said she had it every day for weeks. She’d make a new friend and spend every weekend having sleepovers with her.
So in hindsight, it wasn’t surprising that Hallam became addicted to prescription drugs in high school.
Hallam dedicated much of her energy to playing varsity lacrosse at North Hills High School. It was her niche — her main focus.
“Sports was always my thing in life. My parents thought that if I was involved in a bunch of sports, it would keep me out of trouble,” Hallam said. “Little did they know that it was actually going to be the catalyst that actually started the trouble in my life.”
Halfway through her high school career, Hallam tore her ACL — twice. During her 18 months of surgeries and physical therapy, Hallam was prescribed Vicodin — a strong painkiller. She didn’t realize she was addicted to the drug until she experienced withdrawal symptoms immediately after her refills stopped. After a friend offered her a pill, she began what would become 10 years of prescription and opioid addiction.
Because of her addiction, Hallam spent a decade getting caught for misdemeanors and felonies related to using and selling drugs, getting bailed out by her exhausted parents each night she found herself behind bars. She led a double life during her four years at Duquesne University, balancing schoolwork and a job that funded her addiction. She dated “sketchy guys,” lived in her car, shot up under bridges and eventually lost her driver’s license after being charged with a DUI.
“I needed the drug to get by, and my whole world revolved around it. If you didn’t support me using drugs, then I didn’t care about you,” Hallam said. “... I was just someone that today, I wouldn't even recognize that person.”
So in hindsight, it wasn’t surprising that Hallam became addicted to prescription drugs in high school.
Hallam dedicated much of her energy to playing varsity lacrosse at North Hills High School. It was her niche — her main focus.
“Sports was always my thing in life. My parents thought that if I was involved in a bunch of sports, it would keep me out of trouble,” Hallam said. “Little did they know that it was actually going to be the catalyst that actually started the trouble in my life.”
Halfway through her high school career, Hallam tore her ACL — twice. During her 18 months of surgeries and physical therapy, Hallam was prescribed Vicodin — a strong painkiller. She didn’t realize she was addicted to the drug until she experienced withdrawal symptoms immediately after her refills stopped. After a friend offered her a pill, she began what would become 10 years of prescription and opioid addiction.
Because of her addiction, Hallam spent a decade getting caught for misdemeanors and felonies related to using and selling drugs, getting bailed out by her exhausted parents each night she found herself behind bars. She led a double life during her four years at Duquesne University, balancing schoolwork and a job that funded her addiction. She dated “sketchy guys,” lived in her car, shot up under bridges and eventually lost her driver’s license after being charged with a DUI.
“I needed the drug to get by, and my whole world revolved around it. If you didn’t support me using drugs, then I didn’t care about you,” Hallam said. “... I was just someone that today, I wouldn't even recognize that person.”
Now about a decade into her recovery from substance use, Hallam uses her experiences as motivation for her fight for social justice, which is the core of her platform as an Allegheny County councilperson. She’s the youngest person — and the only previously incarcerated person — to be elected by the county into this position.
With this role, Hallam has the opportunity to fight for what she’s passionate about, and actually be the person inciting change in her home city.
“I use my platform to not just bring the ideas of people to the table where decisions are being made, but literally pulling up chairs so people can sit down at the table with me and we can all work on issues together,” Hallam said.
Hallam was always interested in politics and social policy, but the years of addiction distracted her from pursuing her passion. It wasn’t until she was held in the Allegheny County Jail after violating probation — with no way for money to get her out — that she experienced her first wakeup call.
“After that, I had a clear mind for the first time for over a decade,” Hallam said.
She looked around her and saw physical evidence of the flaws of the country’s legal system. Hallam experienced firsthand how inmates are treated, and she felt inspired to help the victims beside her.
“I looked around at everyone that was sitting in the jail next to me … and they weren’t criminals. They weren’t bad people. They were folks in similar situations as me,” Hallam said.
Once she was out, her mindset changed. Thanks to the help of a mentor, she stayed out for good, and could see clearly the problems faced by the most vulnerable populations in the nation. She watched as President Donald Trump took his seat in the Oval Office, and decided that she wanted to fight for the change she thought the country needed.
So, she ran for office and beat her competitor, a male incumbent of 20 years and the only person who had ever held the position in Allegheny County.
But the path to victory wasn’t easy for Hallam. She was different — she was loud and progressive, wore jeans to meetings and was a woman. And she didn’t keep her past experiences a secret — something that didn’t always sit well with other council members, who would laugh at the way she dressed and calling her names, such as “junkie” and “socialist slut.”
But public disapproval of her campaign only encouraged more people to support her, and she wasn’t ashamed of her past.
“The skeletons that I had weren’t skeletons when I started my campaign, because I pulled them out of my closet and put them on display for everyone,” Hallam said.
While Hallam has left her days of drug use behind, pieces of her past resurface as a reminder of the reality of struggling with substance-use disorder.
In June of 2020, Hallam was finally able to get her driver’s license again — something she had been counting down the days to for two years. But about two weeks later, a man swerved across two lanes of traffic and collided with her head-on. When she found out that he had been under the influence of drugs, any anger she felt evaporated.
“I couldn't be mad at him. I just got my license, just got this beautiful new sports car, and he ruined it,” Hallam said. “I was sad. I was sad for this guy that hit me.”
Hallam channels the empathy she feels for those struggling against addiction — and vulnerable individuals as a whole — into her work. She currently serves on the Allegheny County Jail’s Oversight Board, where she’s introduced motions for monthly deposits of $100 of COVID-19 aid on the commissary accounts of each inmate — one of her proudest accomplishments.
Her time in jail has shaped her progressive stance on criminal justice reform, and she focuses her efforts on helping the individuals that find themselves stuck in the system because of their lack of resources.
“They were in there because we criminalize poverty, we criminalize homelessness, we criminalize drug use — we criminalize things that need support in our society,” Hallam said.
For Hallam, addiction now doesn’t only mean drugs and jail. She’s learned to focus her strong sense of drive and passion into her fight for justice, and she hopes to continue to change the lives of those in Allegheny County through her position on the council.
“I truly believe that the only way that I can help people and keep my recovery as strong and successful as it has been is to use everything that I've learned and put in my toolbox throughout my life and help other people along the way,” Hallam said.
With this role, Hallam has the opportunity to fight for what she’s passionate about, and actually be the person inciting change in her home city.
“I use my platform to not just bring the ideas of people to the table where decisions are being made, but literally pulling up chairs so people can sit down at the table with me and we can all work on issues together,” Hallam said.
Hallam was always interested in politics and social policy, but the years of addiction distracted her from pursuing her passion. It wasn’t until she was held in the Allegheny County Jail after violating probation — with no way for money to get her out — that she experienced her first wakeup call.
“After that, I had a clear mind for the first time for over a decade,” Hallam said.
She looked around her and saw physical evidence of the flaws of the country’s legal system. Hallam experienced firsthand how inmates are treated, and she felt inspired to help the victims beside her.
“I looked around at everyone that was sitting in the jail next to me … and they weren’t criminals. They weren’t bad people. They were folks in similar situations as me,” Hallam said.
Once she was out, her mindset changed. Thanks to the help of a mentor, she stayed out for good, and could see clearly the problems faced by the most vulnerable populations in the nation. She watched as President Donald Trump took his seat in the Oval Office, and decided that she wanted to fight for the change she thought the country needed.
So, she ran for office and beat her competitor, a male incumbent of 20 years and the only person who had ever held the position in Allegheny County.
But the path to victory wasn’t easy for Hallam. She was different — she was loud and progressive, wore jeans to meetings and was a woman. And she didn’t keep her past experiences a secret — something that didn’t always sit well with other council members, who would laugh at the way she dressed and calling her names, such as “junkie” and “socialist slut.”
But public disapproval of her campaign only encouraged more people to support her, and she wasn’t ashamed of her past.
“The skeletons that I had weren’t skeletons when I started my campaign, because I pulled them out of my closet and put them on display for everyone,” Hallam said.
While Hallam has left her days of drug use behind, pieces of her past resurface as a reminder of the reality of struggling with substance-use disorder.
In June of 2020, Hallam was finally able to get her driver’s license again — something she had been counting down the days to for two years. But about two weeks later, a man swerved across two lanes of traffic and collided with her head-on. When she found out that he had been under the influence of drugs, any anger she felt evaporated.
“I couldn't be mad at him. I just got my license, just got this beautiful new sports car, and he ruined it,” Hallam said. “I was sad. I was sad for this guy that hit me.”
Hallam channels the empathy she feels for those struggling against addiction — and vulnerable individuals as a whole — into her work. She currently serves on the Allegheny County Jail’s Oversight Board, where she’s introduced motions for monthly deposits of $100 of COVID-19 aid on the commissary accounts of each inmate — one of her proudest accomplishments.
Her time in jail has shaped her progressive stance on criminal justice reform, and she focuses her efforts on helping the individuals that find themselves stuck in the system because of their lack of resources.
“They were in there because we criminalize poverty, we criminalize homelessness, we criminalize drug use — we criminalize things that need support in our society,” Hallam said.
For Hallam, addiction now doesn’t only mean drugs and jail. She’s learned to focus her strong sense of drive and passion into her fight for justice, and she hopes to continue to change the lives of those in Allegheny County through her position on the council.
“I truly believe that the only way that I can help people and keep my recovery as strong and successful as it has been is to use everything that I've learned and put in my toolbox throughout my life and help other people along the way,” Hallam said.