Face of Heroin

Nov 28, 2018, 1:31 PM

Again, this is the face of heroin. This is the second time I have posted this photo. It was taken March 6, 2017, just 25 days before Sam overdosed. He was high on heroin. I am sorry for posting this awful picture again mom.

Is this what we want to perpetuate? I understand the idea of counseling referrals, mental health referrals, safe needles, etc, and the arguments that others have brought up to me in favor of safe injection sites but I respectfully disagree.

Withdraw from opioids is incredibly uncomfortable and can last for days. Addicts with the BEST intentions often go back to using over and over again because coming off is so intense. Most don't just wake up one day and merrily decide to quit, they have go through a demoralizing spiral into hell until the misery of change is the only answer. They start to lose things like their relationships, their jobs and their homes. Or, like in Sam's case, they have to be forced into sobriety and hopefully hold on through time, maturity, and change. Sam has been in jail for almost 6 months now as he waits for trial in February. I don't believe that keeping opioid use easy and more acceptable is the answer.

I was fortunate last spring when I was asked to participate in a Pediatric continuing education unit for at Kaiser in Denver. I was interviewed as the voice of a parent. After I was done, I was privileged to be able to sit in on the rest of the forum and listen to professionals speak. I am happy to say there is a driving and strengthening force behind finding the answer to this national epidemic. I was so incredibly impressed and energized to hear two young and dynamic anesthesiologists from Children's discuss alternative pain treatments. These guys get it and they care. They choose to look at their patients as humans, not cases to shove out the door. They see their role and responsibility in getting this problem under control from the pediatric side. We need more young blood like them spreading the word and taking up the cause. We also need more public awareness, we need to hit it from the front end. We are too busy playing catch up.

After Sam overdosed, I wanted to become part of the voice of change. I was willing to share his story at his school during the yearly drug forum. I thought bringing it "home" to Sam's school mates might be profound for them. What I found was that no one wanted to hear it. I think the world is scared and in denial. No one wants to believe it could happen in their home, school, or neighborhood until it does. Why are we not getting louder about this? Why are we not allowing the world to get uncomfortable and see the truth?

I was never drawn to hard drugs back in the day because they scared me and grossed me out, although admittedly there were a couple of popular and supposedly fun ones I might have tried given the right opportunity. I remember the commercial about the girl diving into the pool with no water. It was about meth or the likes of it. "NOT EVEN ONCE". That commercial scared the hell out of me. I don't know how anyone else out there felt watching but it I took it very seriously and knew that not only would I never take it, I would never be around it either.

You know what else scares me? This picture of my son. Same kid, different day. I don't think we should work so hard to differentiate how the opioid addict got where they are at. It doesn't matter. Keep them using and they are all going to look like this eventually. This is heroin.

The good news about the "Safe Injection Site" planned for Denver is that it is publicly funded. So, we as citizens get to decide if we participate financially or not.

I will not contribute to what I view as a misguided cause because my son's life means something more than hanging around a legal and acceptable place to stick a needle in his arm and making further drug connections. After 5 treatments, hundreds of meetings, family love and support, and opportunity after opportunity, I can't see this type of environment providing him with any motivation for change. He is like water running down the stream through the path of least resistance.

Where there is life, there is hope. Love you.#nomoreshame #samkeepfighting