There have been a few very high profile deaths by heroin overdose here in the past few months. People die from overdoses every day, but they are usually at home or in a shooting gallery out of the public eye, hence the vague and brief obituaries in the paper. These occurred in public. There were two cases, one person dead, and a companion nearly dead who survived only by heroic efforts at the hospital. Names are not given publicly to protect the families, but we found out the names dealing with the inevitable emotional breakdowns that are associated with this sort of tragedy.
Heroin addiction, and addiction to other drugs in general is not a victimless crime and I would argue that point with anyone who advocates legalizing drugs to the bitter end. I have seen families that have been forced to declare bankruptcy because a family member has stolen all their money to buy drugs. I have seen an epidemic of hepatitis C from women, and men for that matter, that prostitute themselves to get money for drugs. I have seen a local carry out burned to the ground over a robbery intended to obtain money for drugs. I have seen the elderly held prisoner in their homes out of fear. I have seen people murdered over a few dollars.
And I have seen the grief that a mother feels when her child dies of an overdose. I am a mother myself and could not begin to imagine the pain these women must go through. It starts with watching their child become enslaved to such a powerful master, to fighting with the battle of how much to support to give or not. Or when set limits with this person and send them away homeless to the streets. And finally to the final day when that dreaded phone call comes through. We get patients admitted every day that are dealing with the grief over the death of a child, but this kind does not need to happen.
But despite all of the warnings, the death, and the horror stories, kids continue to experiment with heroin. The rehab facilities are thriving, and continue to bring in court ordered drug addicts and dealers from larger cities every day. We see them on the inpatient unit frequently and most of them plan to remain here after their stints are completed, rather than returning home. They continue bringing their illicit business with them. Now though, the rehabs are filling up with local people who have been drawn into a culture that they were ill prepared to face. The number of methadone clinics and suboxone prescribers grows daily.
The rehab facilities' answer is to move their sites and methadone clinics further out of city limits into the outlying suburbs ensuring that the school populations of the smaller cities are exposed and addicted as well. And with time, a problem that had been largely focused in the inner city has grown into the suburban population. Some of these communities have challenged these placements in courts and lost. Those living within the city say that the wealthy and middle class are being unfair for attempting to block the placement of drug rehab facilities in their borders, why should they get special treatment? To that I have one response. These communities did not invite these businesses, and yes, they are for profit businesses, into their communities in the first place. Why should they suffer for the mistakes of the larger community? The break in rate in the suburban communities is increasing, and if anything makes for a much more enticing hit since the homeowners are generally much wealthier and have more to offer and the rates of drug use in the high schools is increasing even higher than the larger city itself.
Somehow, I do not see this as the great savior of the economy that the city leaders had expected and the people of this area deserve an answer on what they intend to do to reverse the damage done.
I will touch on the farce of the methadone clinic and the misuse of taxpayer's dollars (via Medicaid) that go to fuel the drug diversion industry and finally put my rant to an end next.
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