Children are the true victims of drug abuse. Often they end up in foster care or being raised by other family members. Sometimes they are born addicted and suffer withdrawal symptoms their first weeks of life. It can happen anywhere and it happened here.
Years ago I remember sitting with my husband at his Drs office and noticed a woman holding a crying newborn. As much as the woman tried to comfort the baby, the baby continued to cry. The woman apologized to everyone in the waiting room, explaining that her new foster child was withdrawing from Methamphetamines. Her explanation left me speechless because something like this happened someplace else not here, not in our town.
A few weeks later a man was tied up and beat to death in his own home. His house was ransacked and things stolen, including prescription drugs. It was these two moments that opened my eyes. It made me realize our community was forever changed. Even some of our high county officials (A Municipal Court Judge was addicted to cocaine.) , had personal battles with addiction. This level of addiction has been happening elsewhere for years, not here.
Years ago I watched a program on HBO about Black Tar Heroin at the time it seemed surreal and unbelievable. It's a sad but fascinating program that followed a small group of young adults through addiction. It took years to reach our region but it's here now and it scares me.
Our local people now addicted to heroin are the ones who once abused OxyContin and other pills with codeine. Consider the cost of OxyContin an Oxy 80 cost $60-80, most change to Heroin because it's cheaper.
Methadone and Suboxone are prescribed for opiate addiction but our local junkies abuse these too. Suboxone is available in a pill and strip. The strip and packaging is coded so the addict can't sell without being traced back to the person who was prescribed the medication. The coding is ingenious but our junkies pay it no mind.
There is no drug to help with Methamphetamine addiction and the wasted life it leaves behind........
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