Yes, a young mother who OD'd and left behind a 4 year old. Tragic.

My husband is a chef/owner operator. It's really destroyed our professional community. Dozens.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Xanax is not an opioid, it's a benzodiazepine.

I kind of get what this poster meant when they grouped Xanax in there. At the rehab facility my cousin was in, they couldn't be on any benzos during their stay there. My cousin had been on Xanax for anxiety for years and had to come off and switch to Zoloft before the facility would admit him.

His issue was he got hooked on pain pills after he injured himself playing HS basketball. He was one of those star athletes that the docs just kept (over, IMO) prescribing pain meds so he could finish out the season. He then had surgery to fix the issue and after getting the high doses in the hospital, the pills afterwards just wouldn't cut it for him. He started using Heroin while rehabbing his injury and it wasn't until he OD'd (aunt found him passed out in his room) that they found out he had a problem.

Anonymous wrote:Yes. My sister. We are mid to upper 30s. She has a college degree and a family.

How did that happen?

Anonymous wrote: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.

PP, I'm sorry about your sister.

Truly a worse nightmare scenario for parents.

I used to have this really close friend. Then two years ago, her daughter died of an overdose and left behind twin one year old babies. Now my friend is raising the babies and has no time for socializing anymore.
I guess that is the closest I have come to it affecting me personally.

Anonymous wrote: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.

Xanax is not an opioid, it's a benzodiazepine.

This is nothing new. Just hitting this area late? Moved 2 years ago from Western PA just north of Pittsburgh and it os a normal thing there. Lived there for 5 years

Anonymous wrote:I don't know any since I don't know many Americans personally. Heroin hasn't made it to immigrant community I'm in. We are too busy hiding from Trump.

Same here

I don't know any since I don't know many Americans personally. Heroin hasn't made it to immigrant community I'm in. We are too busy hiding from Trump.

Anonymous wrote:Has the heroin epidemic touched you or anyone in your immediate circle?

I've lost family and many acquaintances. It's everywhere even here in the best neighborhoods.

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

Chances are you do know people who do heroin. Even suburban soccer moms are heroin addicts.

Anonymous wrote:

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.

But I think that has changed and more people are seeing it as a public health crisis. At least more than in the past. I'm sorry to say it but I really think this is because it's killing white people. If it were poor black people, we'd still be saying "lock'em up!" Nevertheless I welcome the change in perspective. The drug war has been very expensive and ineffective. It's time to start putting that money into treatment.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yep, dd has wealthy friends from private school who were hooked on heroin. Fortunately, one is in recovery. The other is off heroin but continues to use other drugs.

so sad.

Not any sadder than a poor person hooked on heroin.

Yes. My sister. We are mid to upper 30s. She has a college degree and a family.