Every drug, no matter what it is, including alcohol, it fills some type of gap in people's lives. Maybe it relieves a symptom for something else, just like marijuana may relieve a symptom. Heroin may have a positive effect on some type of system while having a negative effect on the rest of the person's life.
The people who are addicted to heroin aren't bad people. They do bad things because of the drug. We're seeing an increase in larcenies, people taking credit cards, stealing out of sheds—anything they can divert to cash to purchase the drug. In the past if you had friends or relatives come over, you'd have everyone throw their coats and pocketbooks on the bed and go and enjoy the party. Now they have to leave their belongings in their locked vehicles.
In many cases, end users are also becoming dealers. They can travel maybe an hour away and purchase the heroin for $5 a bag, then sell it for $10 to $25 a bag here. Most of it is coming from Mexico. Law enforcement is doing as much as we can, but the cartels, they're relentless. It's a never-ending pool of money they have. Every day there's a different manipulation or tactic to bring all the heroin into this country.
To combat it, the public needs to speak out more. We need to put more money into mental health, and there needs to be more funding to help and teach people. A lot of it has to start in schools with their programs. We've gotten away from that and kids are missing out. Honestly, these people who get addicted are just like you and me. They're good people who got caught up with a very bad drug.
This is the first in a two-part series about the opioid epidemic. The next article will appear in the May issue.
