The Stronger the Better: Addicts Purposely Seek out Killer Drug
We currently live in a society where drug use has been completely normalized. Hearing about drug addiction and drug overdoses nowadays is such a normal occurrence that it’s no longer as jarring as it used to be. Addiction is no longer some shameful thing that families try to sweep under the rug and pretend isn’t there. More people now than ever before in history have been touched by substance abuse in some way. Everyone knows someone who’s struggled if they haven’t also struggled themselves.
Over the last 20 or more years, opioid abuse has taken a hold of American society like nothing else. It seemed to come out of nowhere. It was almost as if one day, heroin addicts were everywhere when they seemed to not be there the day before. So, it went from pills to heroin and heroin to fentanyl. Fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, changed the game for good. When the drug showed up on the scene, addicts were terrified as more and more people fell victim to fatal overdoses. Families found themselves burying their children, children were burying their parents and seemingly no one was safe from the fentanyl’s deadly effects. Narcan became widely distributed to prevent drug users from dying and so the drug problem trudged on. Now, the drug crisis has changed again in a way most never saw coming.
The drug problem changed from drug users being terrified of getting a bag of heroin laced with fentanyl to purposely seeking out fentanyl. Drug users started to intentionally seek out fentanyl on purpose for no good reason other than to get the most for their money. Since fentanyl is such a strong drug where too many micrograms can be fatal, users found inventive ways to “control” their intake of the drug. Users have also been seeking out fake oxycodone pills, knowing they are full of fentanyl and cutting off and ingesting small slivers to get their fix without overdosing.
The scary part is that no matter how many “safety measures” people try to put in place to prevent their own demise, they never actually know how much fentanyl is in their heroin or fake oxycodone pills. They may think they’re only taking a little bit, but even that little bit can prove fatal. Unless drug users figure out how to get clean, there aren’t any real “safety measures.” The only truly effective way to prevent yourself from overdosing is getting clean and becoming completely abstinent from drugs. That’s the only foolproof method I know of. If you’re not using drugs, drugs can’t kill you. I know getting clean isn’t so simplistic as just not using drugs. I know getting clean takes time, energy, persistence, and a lot of hard work. If you’re addicted, stand up, take a big courageous breath, and get yourself some help. Stop the waking nightmare and the daily struggle. Take it from me, the worst days clean are better than any day being sick and chasing down drugs.
