In my years as a paramedic/firefighter, I responded to my fair share of heroin overdoses. The amount of the drug taken and the time of our arrival after the overdose had everything to do with a good outcome versus a bad one. Though it was a problem in my days of riding an engine, ladder, or ambulance, heroin overdoses have become pandemic, in our day. We live in a society where people have cocooned themselves in their homes, oblivious to everything happening around them. My wife read me a story from Huntington, W. Va., where 27 people had overdosed on heroin, laced with another drug. The overdoses occurred within a a mile and a half radius of each other over a four-hour period, resulting in one death. The ages of those involved were mid-20s to 50 years old.
This problem hit close to home a few weeks ago. A young adult that we know died from a suspected heroin overdose. My heart is broken for that family and for a young person who felt the need to resort to heroin as an escape from life’s pressures. The point that I am making here is that you have no idea what is happening, not only in your neighborhood, but very possibly next door. Times are not like they used to be. I do not believe that there is any such thing as a quiet neighborhood any more. In fact, quiet neighborhoods may be the front that drug dealers are looking for to peddle their evil. I think about my days in the Coast Guard. Boats that were supposedly going to the Gulf Stream would break off from the fleet, meet up with a mothership, pick up their drugs, and then return with the fleet. People will figure out whatever has to be done to get around the law.
As educated and sophisticated as our border patrol agents are in confiscating drugs, illegal drugs are still crossing our borders and entering our seaports. Secured and controlled borders and ports are vital to our national security. Wherever the drugs are coming from, this problem must be stopped. Suspicious activity needs to be reported. Illegal drug use is not an individual habit or problem; it ripples out from its source. The web of people involved in the problem may stretch to multiple homes in a single neighborhood.
An even greater danger occurs when these drugs make it into our schools. The legalization of marijuana is nothing more than a precursor to much worse things. Young people that have little or no supervision in the home are vulnerable to these evils entering the home. What is billed as a moment of euphoria is actually a difficult-to-escape snare. Parents, you must stay engaged in your children’s lives, especially when they go to college. Drugs and alcohol are rampant on the campuses of many colleges and universities across this nation.
If you want to reduce the number of aggravated assaults, then reduce the flow of drugs. This problem is in our town. We need to assist law enforcement in every way possible to see this problem eradicated. I will say that how we vote in this upcoming election will have as much to do with combating the drug problemas picking up the phone and reporting suspicious activity in our neighborhoods.
