Following is a synopsis of the notes my husband, Joe, took at the
community panel meeting about heroin. The forum entitled “Heroine in Alabama”
was presented by local National Public Radio affiliate WBHM last week. Over 300 people attended the
meeting, a testament to how serious the heroin problem is in central Alabama.
There were two panels of five people each who answered questions from a
moderator and from the audience. The panels were composed of experts in
the field of drug abuse research, law enforcement, and recovery. This
segment is focusing on heroin the drug. Joe will give a synopsis of his
notes on treatment and law enforcement issues on a later blog post.
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Facts from the Heroin Panel Meeting at Work
Play
Alabama is the number one state in the country for opiate abuse from
prescription painkillers. One theory as to why this has occurred
links physician protocol to chronic pain management. In the early 1990’s it was
common practice for physicians to prescribe opiates to patients with chronic
pain who found little relief in over the counter medications. Physicians
considered those who were low risk to opiate addiction and prescribed opiate
painkillers for routine pain management. In recent years a high incidence
of abuse and addiction has made prescription painkillers much harder to obtain.
The lack of availability for prescription drugs has moved more people toward
the use of heroin, which is relatively cheap, very powerful, and easy to
get. In turn, Alabama has become a large market for the drug, which is
most likely manufactured in Central and South America. Drug cartels
actually "brand" their heroin by labeling it, much like types of
cigarettes. Also, the strength of heroin is not always consistent between batches,
so the same dose could produce a high one week and lead to death by overdose
the next.
The Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) lists the
three worst drugs in North Alabama as Methamphetamine, Heroin, and
Cocaine. Heroin use is growing at an alarming rate, and is expected to
continue to spread throughout Northern and Southern Alabama. There still
seems to be a bit of a stigma about using heroin, but it is vanishing. Drugs
that are considered the pathway drugs to heroin use have little stigma at
all. Some abusers are even skipping the pathway drugs and starting with
heroin.
Heroin
basically changes to morphine once it enters the body. It attaches to
nerve receptors and creates euphoria. Unfortunately, it takes more and
more of the drug to create the same feeling as the body's tolerance of the drug
goes up. A pattern soon develops in which the user needs more and more of
the drug. Some addicts say that at some point it stops being about
getting high and instead becomes about just not quitting and avoiding the pain
of withdrawal. They are angry they have to have the drug, but they will do
almost anything to get it. Addicts will stop seeing people as
people. They see them as either obstacles to them getting high, or instruments
in helping them get high. When addicts are high, they are mellow and
euphoric. When they are not high, they can easily become angry or
violent.
One
noted statistic: the demographics of a heroin
user are white, upper middle class, and well educated. Most are in their
twenties. Heroine is typically used in a suburban location, but purchased
in an urban location. Some addicts admitted
to using heroine to cope with other life issues.
One
panelist, Judge Joyce Vance, considers heroin the most lethal drug ever.
The Birmingham area had 147 documented heroin overdoses in the past year, which
is higher than the number of murders for the same year. The death rate from
heroine is rising among whites.
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I can't post a blog without a little ray of hope. So you ask, what
can we do? How do we stop this monster? I do not have the answers, but I have
a few suggestions. I think we need to educate people about the use,
abuse, and availability of heroine. I think we need to come together as a
community of faith and offer support and love for families dealing with these
issues. And most importantly, we need to pray. Pray for the knowledge and
wisdom of how to this situation. Pray for the families. Pray for the addicts.
Pray for God to intervene! Pray! Prayer always offers a ray of hope!
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