ONE COUNTY, 70 MINUTES, EIGHT OVERDOSES

TM.7 (1)A friend sent me an article from the Washington Post about a small county in western Pennsylvania – a county of slightly more that 200,00 people and just 40 minutes from my home town – where there were reported eight overdoses in 70 minutes. “There’s been a progressive increase in overdoses the last two years, and it just went out of control,” said Rick Gluth, supervising detective on the drug task force. “I’ve been a police officer for 27 years and worked narcotics for the last 15, and this is the worst.”

My reaction: Articles like this are important. They help, as Dr. MacAfee says, to take addiction out of the shadows and into the light where it can be healed. There is no silver bullet for stopping the flow of narcotics into the hands of our loved ones, but pieces like this unveil the hard facts around an epidemic suffocating so many of our families.

Today’s Promise to consider: Addiction is anchored in Stigma, Shame and Silence. Today, I join together with other parents to break the backs of these three S’s. People are dying and the death toll is increasing.

(the full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/the-heroin-epidemics-toll-one-county-70-minutes-eight-overdoses/2015/08/23/f616215e-48bc-11e5-846d-02792f854297_story.html)

 

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penny
penny
8 years ago

My dear Libby, you are speaking directly again. I started a facebook group Shoulder to Shoulder to Beat Heroin Addiction in Wicomico County. I had no idea what I was getting myself into, the group has exploded. We are having a meeting on Sept. 1 and a local tv station will be there interviewing us for a week long segment they are doing on the heroin epidemic. On Sept. 16 we will be having a candle light vigil in one of the most prevalent drug dealing areas in our county. The county has loaned us their promotion company to help us get the greatest exposure possible. We are fighting so hard to stop the stigma, shame and we are most definitely not silent. I just want you to know that my strength to do this comes not only from my love for my son, but from you as well. I thank you so very much for doing what you do. Love you.

pat nichols
pat nichols
8 years ago

Penny,

That’s awesome!

We need longer treament programs that are afforable.

Last Tuesday we had a very popular goverment official who met his son at a restaurant and the son stabbed his father to death in the restaurant. The son had a history of substance abuse and mental illness.

Third world contries do a better job treating this illness than America. How sad is that?