No.

I'm originally from Ohio so yeah I know lots of people who are either currently using or are in rehab. Some never used heroin but they still had to go into rehab for addiction to the prescription painkillers. It's sad. A lot of them did start with prescription painkillers but some just fell in with the wrong crowd, even in their 30s.

2 newphews
1 28 yo friends of a family
My aunts nephew on her side of the family
My sons friends sister
My friends sister

3 are high income/private school families
3 are on the lower end of upper middle class

Everyone here knows someone who is affected by heroin or one of its first cousins, known by pharmaceutical names like Tramadol, Xanax, OxyContin, Hydrocodone... It's everywhere.

My sister. She's in and out of rehab programs, but we're all just waiting for it to kill her. She's ruined my parents lives and I have basically no relationship with her. She was smart, middle class with educated parents, and had college fully paid for. I went to a top law school and she's homeless and turning tricks. Literally.

We grew up in a small town outside of a mid sized city and mental health issues run in the family. I got mine under control and she started self-medicating in high school with drugs and alcohol. I had few friends until I got out of the small town, then met my (stable, healthy) DH at a young age. She made friends with the townies and ran with the bad crowd until she became the worst in the crowd.

Three people I went to high school with (that I know of) died of overdoses in the last 4 years. I'm 38.

I just found out my next door neighbor's son died of a heroin OD 20 years ago.

Not immediate circle, but an acquaintance is dealing with addiction in her family right now. It's awful. I'm scared to death as I have tweens that will be in high school soon.

Anonymous wrote:What I don't understand is what drives a person to actually try heroin in the first place. Besides an addiction to opioid pills. When I was in high school everyone smoked pot but it seemed that no one would ever EVER go near a needle. What's changed? Are kids that depressed and desperate?

It's a little more complex than that. The drugs these days are a lot more available and dangerous, for one. A little experimentation can really end the game. Then there is the dearth of pathways for kids post high school. Boredom and a need for money...

But this is hitting more than just kids. What's breaking my heart is the number of people in their 30s and 40, many parents, who are succumbing. Part of this can be blamed on drug companies pushing painkillers and doctors over-prescribing throughout the 90s and up to a couple of years ago.

And then there's the stigma that prevents people from seeing it as a public health crisis. If people were dying at this rate from a disease, we'd be screaming for something to be done.

There is a little of a generation gap for me. . . aunt WAS addicted to old-school heroin but now detoxing from alcohol.

I am not aware of any folks 40 and younger that are addicted as a subset of opioid pills.

I grew up in a rural small town and there are so many people who have died from opioid overdoses. I'm 34, most of them are my age or younger.

until yesterday I would have said no. then last night I learned that a former colleague has died from an overdose.

Anonymous wrote:What I don't understand is what drives a person to actually try heroin in the first place. Besides an addiction to opioid pills. When I was in high school everyone smoked pot but it seemed that no one would ever EVER go near a needle. What's changed? Are kids that depressed and desperate?

Most often it starts with opioid pills. Those get expensive and sometimes hard to find. By that point, they're already physically addicted and when going through withdrawal get desperate. They can probably get heroin from the same dealer that sells them the pills (or that person knows someone) and it's cheaper. Ta da.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No actually. Don't know anyone that does heroin.

You probably do. You just don't know it.

+1. Like your doctor or their spouse. Your neighbors' kid. The vice principal at your kid's school. The tech guy in IT at the office. Your finance guy. Believe me you know somebody.

Yes, probably so, thus the term 'epidemic'

Anonymous wrote:What I don't understand is what drives a person to actually try heroin in the first place. Besides an addiction to opioid pills. When I was in high school everyone smoked pot but it seemed that no one would ever EVER go near a needle. What's changed? Are kids that depressed and desperate?

The pills are much more prevalent and addictive than ever. So it's much easier to get hooked. And once you're hooked, pills are expensive. Heroin is cheap.