Where I live here in Chester County, Pennsylvania, there are no easy refuges from the heroin problem. Even in the county prison some of the correctional officers are dealing H. I swear that I am not shitting you when I tell you that a two month old kitten overdosed on heroin here last year.
Don’t get me wrong, though, because the law enforcement community here is aware of the problem and have been proactive enough to win an award for their diligent work trying to bust up these drug pipelines into the county.
And the legislature, governor, and local social services agencies have been making good strides, too. Most recently, the state passed some reforms that allow police officers and a wider number of emergency responders to carry Narcan (Naloxone) which can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose and save lives. County service workers are training the police how to properly administer the remedy. The legislature also passed a Good Samaritan law that prevents the prosecutors from pressing charges against people who call 911 to help an overdose victim. They can’t charge the victim either.
Another welcome angle of attack has been the introduction of locked depositories at local police stations where you can take your unused pain medication so it won’t be stolen out of your house and put into the local supply.
Even down in Philly, lots of people are getting popped for selling heroin. But the problem isn’t getting better.
And it’s not getting better because the root of the problem is the overprescription of opioid painkillers. The doctors and pharmaceutical companies create the addicts but their pills are expensive when compared to heroin. The drug dealers don’t have to push their product to get people hooked. The people are already hooked when they come seeking out the drug dealers.
I see more and more people writing about this issue. I can no longer accuse the media of neglecting the problem. Local and state governments are trying to mobilize to address it.
But it’s all tinkering around the edges of a problem that keeps growing more and more prevalent and dangerous. There are some people who are trying to focus attention where it belongs, but it seems like howling into the wind. And I’m tired of running into the chronic pain lobby every time I try to discuss this.
The chronic pain lobby should have one of the most prominent seats at the table. But they should be seeking to find solutions, not claim that every grieving parent and proposal is a threat to their supply.
All we need to do is compare how many opioids are prescribed in this country to the rest of the world to know that we’re creating our own crisis.
