Heroin use in the suburbs

[Anonymous]

Ray Charles used it

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There was a Post blog today by a 23 year old Walter Johnson grad from Bethesda, top swimmer on local team, heroin addict. Very sad.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/a-suburban-heroin-addict-describes-his-brush-with-death-and-his-hopes-for-a-better-life/2014/02/07/bd769b8e-8ea1-11e3-b46a-5a3d0d2130da_story.html?hpid=z5

Here it is.

[Anonymous]

My niece lives in Woodbridge, graduated from Woodbridge HS in 2013, and dropped out of NoVA this semester after getting heavily into cocaine use, including some heroin. Most of her friends are at George Mason. It's real.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

I think it sends a very mixed message when you tell your teen one drug is acceptable to experiment with but another is not. When I was young, I had friends whose parents had the idea that if they gave their kids a safe space to drink, then they wouldn't experiment with other things. But those kids are the kids who experimented with everything!

My parents drilled the idea in my mind that experimenting with any drug opened up the door for lots of trouble, because honestly, you don't know how you will react. I never experimented with pot. I didn't drink as a teen. I didn't do any of that stuff, not because my parents were strict, but because they were pretty clear that that is a road you don't want to go down.

This is me, 100%. In part because of my parents' clear message, I saw it as an unnecessary risk. Sure, there was a chance I could try pot and be just fine. But there was also a chance it could pique my interest in harder drugs or put me in a situation where I could end up with a criminal record.

Even then, I knew the odds of an ok outcome were probably far better than the odds of the bad outcome, but to me it just wasn't a risk worth taking. I give my parents a lot of credit in this department. They didn't talk down to me or threaten me. They were just very clear about how they saw things, and the risk/reward piece of things resonated.

Same with alcohol, by the way. I didn't touch it in high school, even though many of my friends were drinking around me. Again, just didn't seem worth it (less because of a concern about addiction or arrest and more because of a concern about impaired judgment and poor decision making while drunk.) For me, the "just say no" bright line approach worked beautifully.

[Anonymous]

IV drugs scare me. A lot. And I am trying to impart that fear into DD. I think it is working.

I have taken strong pain meds (Dilaud which is synthetic heroin), and I do not see the attraction personally, but apparently some people like the zoned out feeling.

I think the issue that should be addressed is why do so many people think that it is fun to enter an altered state?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyplace has drug addicts. The idea that drug addicts=black innercity kids is false. I'm not trying to cause anyone to panic, but nowadays drugs are everywhere, and your kid WILL have access to them.

This is why we need to sit down with our kids and have a frank discussion on drugs. Experimenting with weed is really normal in high schools, as is some harder drugs (Molly, etc). We, as parents, need to teach our kids that there is a line between experimentation and addiction. You don't experiment with meth, or heroin, or prescription drugs. Draw that line in the sand.

I don't think you can draw the line. Nancy Reagan was right. Just say no to drugs.
Don't look the other way with pot.

+1

I think it's a huge mistake to assume or condone experimentation of any kind, including experimentation with "lighter" drugs like pot.

I totally agree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:IV drugs scare me. A lot. And I am trying to impart that fear into DD. I think it is working.

I have taken strong pain meds (Dilaud which is synthetic heroin), and I do not see the attraction personally, but apparently some people like the zoned out feeling.

I think the issue that should be addressed is why do so many people think that it is fun to enter an altered state?

I agree they scare me too- but the trouble is this isn't enough- though rationally I and you would think it would be. The heroin use progresses to the IV level once the addiction is established - by then the fear of IV drugs means nothing to the user.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:IV drugs scare me. A lot. And I am trying to impart that fear into DD. I think it is working.

I have taken strong pain meds (Dilaud which is synthetic heroin), and I do not see the attraction personally, but apparently some people like the zoned out feeling.

I think the issue that should be addressed is why do so many people think that it is fun to enter an altered state?

Escapism. It does feel good. I've never done heroin, but I enjoy the mellow, calm feeling that painkillers bring.

I also like the way pot affects my thinking patterns -- usually I have an "a-ha" moment and come up with a solution to a problem that's been bothering me.

Coke makes me energetic and really INTERESTED in everything and everyone around me.

I do drugs maybe once a year. If I were an addict, I'm sure my experience would be different. Just sharing my experience, since you were curious about altered states.

[Anonymous]

Dan Rodricks column from Baltimore Sun today:

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/bs-md-rodricks-0211-20140211,0,7567592.column

"I work with adolescents and young adults, and I often feel that the world thinks we are crying wolf," says Dr. Ann Bruner, a pediatrician and addictions specialist with Mountain Manor Treatment Centers, which has locations in Baltimore, Rockville, Sykesville and Emmitsburg. "The face of heroin addiction for so many years has been the older, gritty, urban, homeless, streetwise tough guy. That has changed; the new face of opiate addiction is a suburban or rural high school athlete."

[Anonymous]

Heroin use in the suburbs has been a problem for a while now. I know a perfectly normal, wealthy, happy family and their son has been in and out of rehab for heroin for years now. Maybe there's some dark secret there that I don't know about but the rest of the family is thriving.

[Anonymous]

My cousin has been in and out of rehab for heroin addiction for the past year. He is from a well to do suburb, and was introduced to heroin from kids who do not at all fit the stereotype of the typical heroin user.

[Anonymous]

My sense is that heroin is so addictive that it "grabs" people very early on. So "experimentation" or "I'm just curious what it's like" can turn into a powerful addiction very, very quickly.

My understanding is that it's a chemical thing -- the way the drug affects the body -- not a willpower or "dark secret" type of issue. Basically, anyone who tries heroin even once puts themselves on a shockingly short path to addiction.

A high school friend of mine really messed up his life this way. He was a regular drug user for about 10 years in high school / college / early adulthood. He used everything regularly (including coke) and managed to stay relatively clear of trouble. Then he tried heroin once. And from there it became the only thing that mattered in his life, as he tells it. He said the pull felt entirely different than the other drugs he used. It was inescapable.

Hearing his story, I can totally see how anyone -- including kids without dark secrets or risk factors -- find themselves addicted, in and out of rehab, or worse. It can be that powerful.

[Anonymous]

This was in the WaPo this morning written by a young man who nearly died from heroin but still ended up going through rehab twice.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/a-suburban-heroin-addict-describes-his-brush-with-death-and-his-hopes-for-a-better-life/2014/02/07/bd769b8e-8ea1-11e3-b46a-5a3d0d2130da_story.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyplace has drug addicts. The idea that drug addicts=black innercity kids is false. I'm not trying to cause anyone to panic, but nowadays drugs are everywhere, and your kid WILL have access to them.

This is why we need to sit down with our kids and have a frank discussion on drugs. Experimenting with weed is really normal in high schools, as is some harder drugs (Molly, etc). We, as parents, need to teach our kids that there is a line between experimentation and addiction. You don't experiment with meth, or heroin, or prescription drugs. Draw that line in the sand.

I don't think you can draw the line. Nancy Reagan was right. Just say no to drugs.
Don't look the other way with pot.

I agree, and I'm not a fan of Reagan or the war on drugs. But I do think that the best possible way to deal with the issue is to attach a huge social stigma to trying drugs in the first place, and that includes pot.

The social stigma has really reduced tobacco use rates. I don't understand why we're headed in one direction with tobacco and yet there's more and more social acceptance of pot. I don't really have an issue with legalization of pot. But I do have an issue with this constant drum beat that experimentation with pot is "normal." That's not a good message to send. It's one thing for drugs to be prescribed for pain management, and doctors need to be very careful about that. But I think that a better line to draw in the sand for young people is not to experiment with any drugs. They're not necessary.

And frankly, I don't know what OP is talking about with the line between experimentation and addiction. Most people don't know their propensity for addiction until they experiment, and then it's too late. How about not even take that risk?

I think it sends a very mixed message when you tell your teen one drug is acceptable to experiment with but another is not. When I was young, I had friends whose parents had the idea that if they gave their kids a safe space to drink, then they wouldn't experiment with other things. But those kids are the kids who experimented with everything!

My parents drilled the idea in my mind that experimenting with any drug opened up the door for lots of trouble, because honestly, you don't know how you will react. I never experimented with pot. I didn't drink as a teen. I didn't do any of that stuff, not because my parents were strict, but because they were pretty clear that that is a road you don't want to go down. We were also blue collar, and my parents made it pretty clear that I already had an uphill battle trying to find a way to pay for college, et cetera, that it just wasn't worth it to try drugs. My parents also didn't give me much in the way of money. I had to get a part-time job when I was 15. If I wanted trendy clothes, I had to buy them myself. As a teen, it was a stretch just affording the clothes I wanted to wear and running shoes (I ran on the CC team).

+1

[Anonymous]

A cautionary tale.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/01/arts/television/unguarded-documentary-about-chris-herren-on-espn-review.html?_r=0