We have lived in this pretty little town for a week now. All seemed very nice. Then I find that Bradenton has the highest per capita rate of heroin and opioid ODs in the state. Emergency rooms are jammed, coroners office is overwhelmed. EMTs going nuts. Over 800 so far this year. How does this happen? What insanity drives people to even try that first hit? And cops are finding that the drug here is laced with fentanyl and other super potent drugs. Has anyone else seen this in their areas?
Its the fentanyl that is causing such a spike in deaths.
Doesn't make sense to kill your customers.
Apparently people start on prescription opioids and move on the heroin because its cheaper and easier to get.
While not as common anymore, the area rural I relocated to in Pennsylvania used to be up there in heroin useage numbers. I actually remember 20 years ago the drug task force showed up at school and showed us all videos and pictures if what happens when you miss the vein. Not pretty.
I'm not sure if it has to do with the proximity to major interstates, bored kids in the country, not enough parental involvement or some yutz thinking it's the only way to make it big in the country. Spitfirebill hit the rest of it.
I plan on taking the parenting route and not saying away from conversations about difficult subjects with my two instead of letting other kids and the school system raise them. I hope everyone else does the same.
spitfirebill wrote: Apparently people start on prescription opioids and move on the heroin because its cheaper and easier to get.
repeated for posterity.
The older I get, I have noticed an interesting trend in Doctors- there has been a trend toward throwing medicine at anything. To the point that my MIL has drugs to offset the side effects of other drugs.
Second- Doctors seem to be trending to be more statisticians than scientists. By that I mean they trend toward the most statistically possible solution as opposed to actually solving problems. And recent big information computer trends make that worse- as computers are really good a doing massive statistics. So if you walk into a doctors office with occasional chest pain, but are healthy, active (running a lot), and have no chemistry problems- they tell you that you are not a risk factor for heart disease. Not at all helping you figure out what the problem is.
Sorry about the rant, as it should go into another thread. But I think that "statistical" trend is what is pushing so many opioids in the first place. Not solving the root pain problem- they try to "make it go away". Which ends up making a painful situation turn into a dangerous drug dependence situation.
I use needles every day. Because of the diabetus. There is nothing appealing about shooting up.
We have the same issues here in a county I work in. I chose to get more involved in outreach.
I'll admit to trying it once in college, but hating it. Went back to alcoholism instead for a little bit until I got sober.
Seeing a lot of it here as well. And I know it makes me a seriously shiny happy person to even think it but the proliferation of Narcan bothers me. Creating a safety net for users does nothing to dissuade them from shooting up.
I've been having the conversations with my kids, they know to avoid the needle.
Looking around my corner of SWPA, you'd think Bayer was selling it as a headache cure again.
I will say it's getting way out of hand around here because they seem to be above the law, addicts and dealers. Seriously, overdose BEHIND THE WHEEL? Free Narcan, no charges. Wanna go to rehab? No problem, state will pay for it. Can I get medical insurance? "Not without a drug problem" is the answer I get from the state.
I'm actually predicting a state attorney general wins the election because his opponents ads talk about how he voted AGAINST free NARCAN and free rehab.
At $3-$6 a dose, it's cheaper and easier to get than cigarettes, Starbucks, or any other drug around here.
What surprised me about the whole thing, 15 years ago when I was in highschool and it started taking off around here, it started in the rich neighborhoods and filtered down because it's pure enough to snort. No track marks, ridiculously cheaper than coke, the rich kids loved it. Now it's absolutely everywhere. About once a month a PATIENT gets arrested selling it from their hospital room. People coming in to visit that don't even know the persons name is what tips the doctors and nurses off.
Maybe I just don't get it because even with broken bones opiods don't do anything for my pain let alone pleasure. I just go straight to sweaty itchy and angry, which makes injuries/surgeries suck, but I guess it's better than the alternative at this point.
Yup, I think Alfa nailed a big part of it, much of it is driven by doctors over prescribing opioid pain killers. Mom or dad goes to the doctor with back pain, doctor writes a script for Percoset or something, then either they come home and take it for a few days and feel better, then leave the still half full bottle in the medicicine cabinet for bored teenage son/daughter to get into one Friday night, or they keep taking the drugs for chronic pain and end up developing a dependency. In either case, once a dependency is established, heroin eventually becomes the expedient solution because it is stronger, cheaper, and often times more readily available.
Here's a good write up and film on the subject from Frontline:
I hate needles, but I can imagine the appeal. Knowing my family history of substance abuse, I stay fairly strait edged. I didn't even fill my Percocet rx after surgery last month.
RevRico wrote: I will say it's getting way out of hand around here because they seem to be above the law, addicts and dealers.
People need to stop thinking "Law" ideas for this kind of addiction. It's not at all about the law. When you see parents walk away from families, it's not about the law. You see people totally destroy their lives, jobs, everything in their life for this addiction- it's not about the law.
It's about the fix and addiction.
When you hear about the current action by police- that it's MORE important to have the anti-OD drugs than trying to prosecute people- it's not about the law, it's about the addiction.
Unless it's laws to control doctors to stop putting so many addictive painkillers out so freely, no law is going to fix this.
Sorrry to disagree Alfa, but I feel that the proliferation of anti-OD meds has actually given rise to a "saftey net" mentality among users. Im not saying its causing more people to use, but its causing users to feel free-er to use and use more than they had previously.
My cousin had a friend who died as a result of reliance on Narcan (sp?).
(mods, feel free to delete this next part if Im posting a "how to" for youngsters) The method he used (repeatedly) was:
the idea was that if he shot up too much, he would pass out, foot falls off brake, car rolls into the car ahead/front of a building, without causing a lot of damage due to the slow speed. Enough people would witness the event to get help (Narcan) to him in time to save him. If he didnt OD, and came too, well then, no harm, no foul. Apparently, this procedure is fairly common among the people this kid knew - it was a learned process.
One night, this kids foot didnt fall off the brake though, and he OD'd, right there in his car, a block from home. The store manager of whatever store it was he was parked in noticed him sitting in his car as they approached to open in the morning, and they assumed he was just another customer waiting on the store to open. After about 2 hours, the manager noticed him still sitting there, and went out to find him dead inside.
I dont have the answer, but I am pretty sure that this situation isnt going to get better by enabling users.
Over prescribing opiods may be a big factor leading to this heroin problem, but don't discount the fact that as part on our nation's longest war we have been protecting the poppy fields and farmers. This epidemic is partially an unintended consequence of getting rid of the Taliban.
Hunington, WV has it bad with multiple overdoes each day.
What's really ironic is that we were told for decades that marijuana was a "gateway drug" to harder stuff like heroin. But it turns out that the Vicodin that some doctors hand out like candy is much worse from that aspect.
Around here it's not the kids - the people OD'ing are middle-aged and older people who were prescribed painkillers for things like back surgery then when they were no longer able to get them prescribed - they were still addicted and went out and found what was available. I have an old friend from college who spent 4 years in prison for burgling a pharmacy. He was former military, blown up by an IED in Iraq working as security for engineers. His meds ran out. He was not the sort of person who would lead a life of crime but he is a criminal now.
It is madness - there was just a case locally where a 19yr old kid robbed someone in public (in a small town where that makes the news and people knew who he was) to get cash to buy heroin for his mother and both were found dead in the home before he could be arrested.
This is one of those problems that will burn itself out but it's got a body count of people who are only partially responsible for their own predicament. Who markets and prescribes something so dangerously addictive for ordinary post-op pain? Who profits from people who are addicted to a product? Who does not provide aftercare to wean patients off of it before they leave care? There really ought to be good answers to those questions.
My nephew is struggling and now in Statesville (Joliet) for failing a drug test on his burglary charge work release.
Two weeks he posted on FB a video of a guy snorting a pile of coke and I yelled at him to take it down and stop looking at that crap since once you look at that and start thinking about it.....he told me he was good.
Huckleberry wrote: Who markets and prescribes something so dangerously addictive for ordinary post-op pain? Who profits from people who are addicted to a product? Who does not provide aftercare to wean patients off of it before they leave care? There really ought to be good answers to those questions.
We went from the meth epidemic too heroin in this small town. Alot of people i went too highschool with have overdosed.
4cylndrfury wrote: Narcan is killing as many people as its saving.
Let's keep the conjecture out of it. If you don't have a solid info to back up that claim I'm calling BS.
I'm with Alfa, it's a health issue. And rehab and education are a much more effective and cheaper route than incarcerating non-violent drug offenders.
I suggest starting your research with Portugal's decriminlization model.
I live in Bradenton too. But I have not yet died from heroin.
Lof8 wrote: I live in Bradenton too. But I have not yet died from heroin.
You better get busy then. That stuff won't inject itself you know.
In reply to alfadriver:
I'm not even going to touch that bait. Too easy to get too sidetracked and get myself in trouble.
The addiction used to solve itself, it should be allowed to do so again.
After the heroin epidemic comes the bloodborne disease epidemic. AIDS is on the comeback not far from me. It's gotten bad enough that the state is providing clean needles for people without threat of prosecution to try and stave off the needle sharing.
In reply to cwh:
In the rural IL/IN area heroin seems to be what filled the void after the crackdown on meth. Local agencies state it's due to all the major drug cartels pushing it out onto the streets.
As to why people do it - from those I know it seems to stem from deeper emotional and/or mental issues, and is compounded by the growing despair brought on by trying to survive in an area with few good jobs - especially ones not requiring an education.
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