From Warren Wade
Hello, from Huttonsville Correctional Center. It’s been awhile since I’ve written on the subject of substance abuse.
Everyday we turn on the T.V. or pick up a newspaper it’s always the same headlines. Another celebrity passes away from an overdose or as a result of drugs and/or alcohol. Imagine how many regular citizens die?
Here’s a few numbers and statistics I’ve found while reading on these subjects.
Prescription drug overdoses now kill more Americans every year than car crashes.
In 2006, opioid pain killers played a role in almost 40 percent of poisoning deaths. Because these drugs activate the brain’s pleasure centers, they can be extremely addictive. The result-an epidemic of opioid overdoses. Here’s the sweep on men’s death rates from lowest (North Dakota) to highest (West Virginia).
One study found that 40 percent of teens surveyed considered prescription drugs “much safer” than illegal ones, not true. More than a quarter thought pain pills weren’t addictive.
In fact, such pills can deliver a high stronger than heroin. That makes them tremendously appealing to drug abusers. And “tremendously” addictive. Worse, they can and do kill if mixed with other medications or alcohol.
Opioid pain killers are expensive, resulting in people turning to the cheaper, but just as deadly, if not deadlier, heroin.
So many people overdose because their brain tells them the drug is not very good. So they’ll shoot up more to get high, inevitably overdosing.
A guy once told me the first high is the best high you’ll ever get, resulting in people chasing the high they will never get again, eventually overdosing.
A lot of people say there’s nothing we can do. But we can’t stop trying to end this epidemic.
Don’t become a statistic. Chase your dreams, not drugs.
Sincerely,
Warren Wade
Huttonsville, W.Va.