How many people do you personally know with heroin addiction?

One person sort of. I went to school with him, and haven’t talked to him since high school. A Facebook friend of mine from high school had stayed in touch with him, and she told me how totally screwed up he is. Really sad.

I know two people for sure who are addicted to prescription drugs, possibly some of the drugs are similar to heroin? I don’t know enough about the pharmacology.

@JLeslie could be, yes. Narcotics are a big problem around here. Pain pills, heroin, people use them both. I know that at least a couple of the people I know who use heroin started with prescription medications.
Is it a big problem down your way? I feel like I have heard that it is.

I have no idea if it’s a big problem. The two addicts I know are in NYC, and the other in Southeast FL.

When I lived in the Tampa area quite a few people looked drug addicty to me. Very thin, and they looked like smokers. But, they might just have been smokers and lots of sun damage. I’m not sure. These were people who “looked” like addicts to me, but I didn’t interact with them, so it doesn’t really mean much.

When I lived in TN I worked in addiction for a while. Lots of alcoholics, some benzodiazepine people, crack. I don’t remember heroin, but I didn’t pay very much attention to the diagnosis in the chart, I just know what was talked about at times when I was around.

Two. Both are female, American, in the entertainment business, prostitute on the side and are living abroad.

Only one that I am aware of. If there are any others, they are either very good at hiding it or are only casual acquaintances. The main problem drugs in my area are alcohol and amphetamines, which isn’t very surprising considering it’s a college town.

none that I know of

Probably more than I know. It’s not the sort of thing people bring up in ordinary conversation.

Meth addicts: four that I know of. At least one of them also uses opiates. Alcoholics: many, including at least half a dozen family members.

As far as I know, not any. But at least half the people I know, that are under the age of 60 are alcoholics. Also some of my family members are alcoholics.

Ooops, forgot one of my good friend’s daughter’s. She got hooked on heroin at an early age, around 16. She’s a piece of shit though. She’s caused a lot of harm to a lot of people. Never did anything kind or good for anyone. Her siblings are kind people. She has three kids that she effed over. The middle of whom, was born while she was in prison for heroin the second time. She’s a mean piece of crap. Her kids are all really nice, though, despite this fact. The third time she was in prison was for robbery of her own grandmother, who was dying of cancer. This chick is a piece of shit. She was a piece of shit, before opioids got involved.

None that I’m aware of.

I used to know a dozen or so. They were all clients of a methadone clinic in the early ‘70’s.

I know four or five that are in recovery, because I hang out with a lot of people that are clean and sober. None that I know of that are active users.

Heroin addiction is now considered rampant because it has moved out of the inner city into rural white America. And there is a whole city in Mexico that set up systems in the Midwest that made heroin easier to order than a pizza.

Zero, but, there is a problem with heroin amongst the homeless populations here.

At present, zero that I know of but over the years, a bunch of people I know died of overdosing. A very few people that I know of were casual users of heroin. From what I understand, most people that do it are not able to remain casual users because they say it feels very good when you use it.

Most of my friends in high school were skaters/punk rockers.

My best friend in High School and I ended up living together when I was about 20. We got a sweet little apartment downtown. We actually worked together all day. And we lived together.

At the time I was saving up for Europe and was working 60–80 hours a week. And yeah, when you stick your gum under the seat at a movie theater about 100 other people have done the same. Someone has to go in at 6AM and re-upholster the seat and replace the shell on the bottom. It is pretty much the worse job you can have at a movie theater. I did that shit for 20 hours a week so I could see what sex in Europe was like.

Back to Heroin….

I was so oblivious that I didn’t know my best friend and roommate was really into heroin.

And then shit gets worse. Zach, My first friend here when I moved to Oregon. We met playing Street Fighter 2 in a actual arcade. He kinda saved me in high school. I was new but we had fun playing video games so he brought me into his group.

So fast forward five years.

I’m stupid. Brian has Zach and his GF move into the living room. Totally fine with them crashing while they save up to get their own place. I love Zach. And his GF was awesome too.

Here is where things get bad. I was getting really pissed since I had one request. Do your fucking dishes you are living here for free. All I asked.. I want to wake up to a clean kitchen. So then the assholes just started putting dirty dishes on the porch so I wouldn’t see them.

Then I discovered that these assholes were selling heroin from my living room while I was getting up at 6am to scrape gum from seats so they had a roof and Comcast. And not only selling, total junkies. I was naive.

I was going to keep the apartment when I went to Europe. Fuck that. I moved all my stuff to my sisters and cancelled the lease and tossed all their shit out and changed the locks. Management company was cool. I told them the truth.

Once I looked into thing further I realized how bad it had become (heroin that is) with my close friends.

Brian – Lost access to his daughter. (Now Clean)
Shauna – Big time junky (recovered)
Jason – Rich parents and rehab (no fucking clue he stole my playstation, I never want to see the bag of shit again)
Zach – No clue how he recovered (Somehow he is now a math professor at a University)
Zachs GF – Also recovered (went to a expensive art school, probably a barista)
Rachael – Last I heard she was a sucking dick behind the 7–11 for dope
Justin – Had a OD and died about 20 years ago.

I would love heroin and I have a really addictive personality. Luckily, I hate needles more than I like getting high.

One. The son of some good friends of ours But he died of an overdose (fentanyl) last year. 33. We had no idea. Neither did his parent. We stayed with them a week after his death.
It was so tough. .Police visits, helping go through mail, trying to help make sense of it all, trying to figure out where he go it…
He was working and had such a good job. He looked fine. There wasn’t a hint…

@LuckyGuy :: Yeah it can kinda sneak up on you. Like the stupid boiling frog metaphor.

The shit thing for me was my friends that started it weren’t into oxy or something. They willingly jumped in.

sigh

It was so sad to watch his parents sitting on the floor with his mail and bills… going through his FB page to see if there was a hint at who his supplier was. Reading his girlfriend’s page looking for clues about that night. So sad…

@LuckyGuy Is Fentanyl like heroin? I know one person addicted to that. I’ve had it once in the hospital, and the relief from the pain I was in was significant, and I didn’t seem to have other negative side effects. That drug was awesome.

This one good friend of mine, Tom, was a lot older than I was he and my best friend ended up getting married. She was straight, he was into heroin, cocaine, etc. We kind of lost touch as was easy in the days before FB and texting. Apparently he went to a friend’s overnight and was doing heroin and whatever else. He used to shoot heroin and cocaine at the same time. He overdosed, and my friend called up (on the house phone which is what was available then) and the guy who lived there answered. My friend asked for her husband and the friend said he’s passed out. My friend asked for them to try to wake him, and the guy said there was foam coming from his mouth. Long story short they refused to call an ambulance because they didn’t want the cops going there. My friend had to call the cops, he ended up in a coma for two weeks and then he died. He was 45. Just like the celebs, when they’re young they can take it but when the body is old and worn out, it says “no more.”

That’s the guy who told me never, ever do heroin becasuse it feels so good you’ll want it more than sex, more than food, more than anything. He was very smart, very mechanical, a little crazy but fun. That’s just one story from the city I’m from (a large city in NY).

I used to say “how much fun could it be when it makes you fall asleep.” We went to a concert once (Pink Floyd). It was the two of them and me and someone else. Tom slept through the whole concert but when we chided him about it, he swore he heard every note.

None.

@JLeslie Fentanyl is a highly potent, highly addictive synthetic opioid. Heroin is an opioid. Pain medications of that nature are frequently used along side of, in place of, or as a precursor to heroin addiction (heroin is cheaper than prescription drugs.)
I have known people with heroin addiction since I was in high school, but in the last 5–10 years, including one friend (who I believe to be clean today, remarkably, as her addiction was quite severe when we were young.) The problem has grown incredibly around here. It’s not even just acquaintances anymore, it’s friends and family, people that you would never see falling into a trap like that. I’m watching people that I grew up with kill themselves. My ex good friend/high school sweetheart of sorts just asked if he could use someone’s backyard hose to take a shower. Another old friend lost his life to an OD 2 nights ago (that’s what prompted me to ask this question.) It’s crazy.

^^I think the drug they switched me to was Tramodol? Another Opiod. It was after they had tried morphine on me, and I had to stop them mid dose, because my reaction was so severe. I really need a med bracelet at this point. I dread the idea that I might be given morphine when unconscious, and they wind up killing me. I have my medical info in my phone, I wonder if hospitals bother to check it. The Fentanyl was far superior to anything else I’ve ever taken, but I very rarely take any pain medication. The Tramadol I was prescribed 30, I only requested 15, and I think I still have 12 sitting in my drawer. That drug made me feel a little not right, but it was tolerable.

@JLeslie One of the reasons for the explosion in heroin addiction has to do with prescribed Fentanyl and prescribed Oxycontin.

The common progression is:
People go to a pain clinic, get Oxycontin or Fentanyl prescribed. And they feel great! And then after a month they go back to the doctor and get another prescription.

But after 3 months or so, they find they can’t lead a normal life without the drug. And it isn’t working as well, so they need more. And then they can’t get a prescription filled, because the Doctor says they have been on it too long.

So they buy some off the street, plenty of dealers will sell you oxies. But they are expensive, one 80 mg pill runs $70 to $80. That is a pretty hefty weekly bill.

So then comes someone selling rather clean heroin that soothes the craving and feels just as good if not better than the prescribed drugs, And, it’s a lot cheaper- a bag of heroiin is cheaper than a pack of cigarettes. But someone who is strung out is not very discerning about the amount they are shooting, and of course, if a little is good, a lot is great.

That’s how people get addicted, them overdose.

@JLeslie I don’t know that much about them, I avoid taking them because I don’t like how they make me feel and because I have a fear of dependency and addiction. Not everyone that I know started with prescription meds, but a lot of them did. A couple I know for sure went right for the heroin, which it’s hard for me to imagine why anyone would dive into a choice like that.
It’s also hard to get rid of old pills that you aren’t taking, because you can’t throw them out, can’t flush them, can’t return them -and I don’t like having them in the house because people will straight up rob you if they know you have them. It’s like trying to get rid of old cans of paint -except that people won’t break into your house for old paint. I’ve had medications stolen from me in the past, when I would just keep them in my kitchen cabinet, and you know that they are not strangers stealing from you. They’re people that you trust and love and let into your home without a second thought. Learned that lesson the hard way. Someone even stole my cat’s medication.

@ANef_is_Enuf You can burn old medications, toss ‘em in the fireplace or burn them in a bucket.

I’m fine letting them sit in my cabinet in case the need comes up. I’d easily take a pain pill 5 years old without worry. More than that I’m not sure. Right now I’m not sure where exactly those drugs are I have so much of my stuff in boxes.

The problem with everyone worrying about addiction is there might be a movement to ban those prescription drugs, and I want the option of the Fentanyl for accurate unjury and pain.

My cousin. He recovered from heavy drinking and put his life back together. He had a good family, job and a bright future. He injured himself at work and went on painkilkers, got hooked and started heroin once he could not get his oxy fix. He ended up cheating friends, family and whoever he could out of money to get his next fix. He is now divorced, in heavy debt and in jail for at least another year.

^^Yeah, addicts shouldn’t be given anything.

Typo: Acute injury, not accurate injury.

@Coloma thanks, I didn’t know that.

I’ve met them, read them, heard them, talked to them, and when I was a teen had acquaintances and friends of friends who were, but I don’t think I know any now. I can’t think of anyone I know or who knows anyone on heroin, or meth. In fact I think the only recreational drug use I know of in my circles is pot, and it’s legal where they live.

I can certainly understand the appeal. The few times I have been given morphine in my life for pain, well…within seconds of the injection or drip being given/started, it is just like someone put a warm blanket over you and you immediately drift into the most sublime state of being. Everything is right with the world and even if it isn’t you don’t care. lol

@JLeslie Fentanyl is 50–80 times the strength of heroin. It can be synthesized in a lab at a price much lower than heroin. The dealers mix some in with the heroin to make it more potent.

Labs in China and Mexico are making it and shipping to the US . As part of our investigation we found a dealer in Ottawa selling preloaded syringes with 4x the dose required to kill a person. The user was supposed to only use 1/10 of the syringe. If the person had used heroin before and had an idea of how much it took to get high, they would fatally OD if they took the same amount in that syringe.

I have read that Fentanyl is being added to all kinds of street drugs. Locally “grey death” is some new fentanyl concoction that is making headlines.

It’s quite scary

They are mixing the Fentanyl with the heroin and people are ODing left and right. We have billboards in our town recommending that people start carrying Narcan in case someone accidentally overdoses and you need to revive them. We’ve made the national news at least 3 times in the last year because of overdoses (a couple OD’d in the front seat of a car with a child in the back in a car seat, a father explaining on YouTube to his young son that his mother was dead of a drug overdose, and I forget the third off the top of my head. There may have been more.) People OD while they are driving and wreck their car, sometimes into other cars, at least twice recently into people’s houses. It’s all kind of scary because it has become such a huge issue, especially since they started using the Fentanyl.

@ARE_you_kidding_me a local police officer just had an accidental overdose because of that “grey death.” They said he is a 225lb athlete and he only had brushed it with his skin. It’s absolutely terrifying.

That scares the shit out of me, sarin gas is probably less lethal than some of this stuff.

Just a few days ago, actually. It scares me, too, it’s all so close to home and I am an anxious person to begin with.

Wow…so this Gray death shit could actually be used as a bio-warfare weapon. Great! o-o

@LuckyGuy Scary. Sounds like a hospital mistake waiting to happen too, not just street users screwing up.

I interesting that it’s cheap to make, they probably charge a fortune for the Rx.

None.

I live in wyoming and seen my sister pass from pain pills.Now going through same thing with nineteen year old son meth and heroin.I wish they could see the harm there doing to them self and family and friends.Me I would rather have my arm cut off then go through this dont wish on anyone.

@blackbeard so sorry for your loss. It’s so hard to watch loved ones go through it, let alone to lose someone.