Nothing "Safe" About Injecting Heroin

DECEMBER 6

Angie Undem Kennedy Dec 6, 2018, 12:51 PM Kudos to the DEA and US Attorney’s office standing firm against certain officials' efforts to open a Safe Injection Site in Denver. State Rep Leslie Herod is one of the sponsors of the bill and intends to try to push the pilot program through regardless of their stance. I can’t help but wonder what connection to heroin addiction the people who are making these decisions have?

I used to think heroin addicts were scum until my son became one and I recognized that I could no longer separate myself from them. Last year in Colorado, more than 1,000 people died of drug overdoses. Overdose deaths are shown to be reduced ONLY within four blocks (½ Kilometer) of Safe Injection Sites. They would have to become dotted throughout the entire city like Starbucks to truly have an effect on overdose rates. Studies also show that while drug overdoses are reduced in the direct vicinity, overall overdose death rates in cities with Safe Injection Sites are not affected. Furthermore, there is no anecdotal evidence that these sites lead addicts into recovery, which is commonly used as a selling point to get the public's backing for Safe Infection Sites.

No one could be more sympathetic to this epidemic than I am, but so many proponents of safe injection sites just don’t understand how heroin addiction really plays out. Are they suggesting that there really is a safe place to play Russian roulette???

Two “Harm Reduction Sites” already exist in on East Colfax just 3.7 miles apart from each other. These centers provide many of the same services touted by the proponents of Safe Injection Sites. Clean needles, health education, street outreach, and more. The major exception between the two is that addicts cannot shoot up in harm reduction centers. The advocates of safe sites are attempting to cut the red tape on that final barrier. Apparently they believe it is our civic duty to make it easy, safe and comfortable to shoot heroin in Denver. Do they know how serious this epidemic really is?

Babies and children are overdosing on their parent's pills. Parents are dying in front of their children. I just read a story about a 5 month old baby who died of dehydration and starvation after both parents died of an overdose. She was not found for 5 days. People are dying behind closed doors in the suburbs too but no one is talking about it. It is a relief that we don’t see it in the streets out here but why are we ignoring this segment of the population? Probably because these private upper scale citizens are not considered a public nuisance or an eyesore to city visitors. My son overdosed in a relatively affluent Lakewood Colorado neighborhood.

Many heroin addicts roam the streets after a final ultimatum lands them there. Often, an exhausted and financially devastated family finally realizes they to save themselves and the other functioning members of the family. They cannot continue to hemorrhage family resources into the black hole any longer. These families, like mine, have found that enabling the addict perpetuates the behavior without exception.

Heroin addicts don’t use to get high, they use to get well. One dose of heroin offers INSTANT relief. It's the easiest way out of agony. We should not allow cities like Denver to fuel a lifestyle that provides no motivation for change which is effectively imprisoning our addicts in the vicious cycle of addiction. Heroin addicts honestly don’t want to live like they do so why are we so convinced that the best thing we can do is keep them addicted?

Two years ago, Sam's dad and I walked the streets for hours looking for him. We hung out in the heroin district and talked with both addicts, dealers, and cops. We showed them Sam’s picture and I gave them my phone number in case they saw him. They were all kind and respectful to us and appreciated what we were trying to do. He was recognized and discovered by cops on our second day searching for him.

I understand the heroin world in Denver from talking to my son, other addicts, cops, and seeing it myself. I would ask Denver City Council members to do the same thing. Start walking the streets as well and interact with the people they are supposedly trying to save. It may open their eyes. They may see these people as humans rather than cattle to be corralled into a special area in effort to clean up the streets and make Denver "attractive" again.

None of us ever expects to raise an addict. I am no exception. There is no possible way to know, when this picture was taken so many years ago, what path our lives would take. It's hard to believe this beautiful boy would become an addict and destroy a part of each of the brothers that love him so dearly.

I think Denver is making a bad move considering implementing safe sites in our city. There are too many of us out there fighting to save our loved ones to allow this to happen. Let's keep the conversation alive please. Thank you for reading.

Where there is life, there is hope. #nomoreshame