Monday Musings

Heroin.  It's everywhere.  And it's killing people by the thousands every year.  10,574 people died from Heroin overdoses in 2014.  (source: http://www.asam.org/docs/default-source/advocacy/opioid-addiction-disease-facts-figures.pdf, accessed 4/25/2016.)  That number keeps increasing every year. 

Think about that harrowing statistic for a moment.  Over 10,000 lives were gone forever, snuffed out by Heroin in 2014 alone.  Heroin addiction knows no racial or socioeconomic boundaries.  It addicts people the first time they use it, and then kills them.  People will beg, borrow, and steal in order to get the money in order to get their next hit.

This epidemic is stealing our future.  Our hope.  Our dreams.  It's wiping out the people we love, and they're dying in extraordinary numbers. 

I can talk about treatment, and how treatment is next to impossible to find.

I could talk about how wonderful kids are dying on a daily basis.

I could talk about how we don't have things for our teens to do, so they are turning to drugs.

I could talk about an overstimulated society that is strung out on 24/7 internet access and constant barrage of e-mails and texts, with no breaks for the person to just "be".

I could talk about how quality mental health care is impossible to find.

But, I'd like to take a bigger picture look here for a moment.  Much bigger picture.

Where does Heroin come from? Much of it is produced in Asia.

In case if it's slipped out of the national spotlight, I'd like to remind you that we are still very much at war.  Although our troops have pulled down in Iraq and Afghanistan, there are still forces that are intent on killing people.  The attacks in Brussels and Paris are two very recent examples of the lengths people will go through to make a point.

But how to get to the United States?  Thankfully, we've had no major terrorist attacks since 9/11.  But how do you knock down the U.S.?  Ah - steal our hope.   And how do you steal our hope?  By killing our children.  And how do you kill them?  Get them hooked on illegal drugs.  Make them cheap.  Flood the market with cheap heroin - a very highly addictive drug that is impossible to quit "cold turkey".  Even better, offer people already hooked incentives to bring their friends in and get them hooked on the drug.

I don't think this scenario is that far fetched.  Massive tunnels that extend beneath the U.S. border with Mexico are being unearthed.  What are these tunnels used for?  Transportation to get the drugs into the United States, from the end point of the tunnel, they can be distributed throughout the U.S.

So what can we do?  Fight to raise awareness of Heroin addiction.  Call you sheriff's office and ask how many heroin overdoses there were last year, and how many of those OD's ended in death.
Start making some noise with your elected officials.  Access to treatment centers needs to be available to all, regardless of their ability to pay.  Ask your local PTA's and Houses of Worship to host seminars in conjunction with the Sheriff's office to give information out about Heroin and other drugs in your community.

What else needs to be done?  I really wish I knew.  Stopping the easy flow of drugs is only the beginning.

Talking openly about lives lost, and the struggles people are having with addiction is another step.  Bring it out of the closet and put it on the table.  I remember a not so distant time when "cancer" was whispered, and nobody spoke of the treatments.  Now, we get out and celebrate cancer survivors and memorialize our loved ones and remind friends and neighbors to get colonoscopies, mammograms, etc.

I'm not making these statements lightly.  Since January of this year - 4 kids in our community have died of a Heroin overdose.  FOUR in four months.  I have no idea how many overdoses have happened, I just know of the 4 deaths, in a small community in the Baltimore suburbs.  These young people were bright, wonderful kids.  Active in their schools, church, and community, they had their entire lives ahead of them. 

It is time for us to step up and take action.  Start asking questions, and start working together as a community to find answers to help our kids.  Time to start looking at ways to make a long lasting difference to the people who need help the most - the people who are addicted. 

We need to put aside our differences and work together to save our future.