The opioid epidemic has hit close to home, our 29 year-old niece almost died!

The opioid problem in the U.S. has affected too many families across the U.S.. It has hit close to home since my wife's brother's family are currently experiencing opioid addiction within their own family. The reality and panic of addiction came to a head when their beautiful 29 year-old daughter almost lost her life 3 weeks ago due to an overdose. What's even worse, is they also have a son who is also addicted to this crap!

This is a detailed incident that almost made my niece another death statistic due to the current opioid epidemic:

Our niece was found unconscious in her car on the side of a country road near her home. Her face was pressed up against the drivers window of her locked car. Her lips were turning blue and she was sweating profusely. The car was still in drive with her foot on the break pedal. Passerby's stopped to give assistance but the car doors were locked and all the windows were rolled up. One of them called 911. In the mean time, her younger brother was driving down the same road and spotted her car sitting on the side of the road with people standing outside with their cell phones. He quickly noticed it was his sister's car, stopped and ran to her car trying to break the windows with a rock he found beside the car. He was panicking because he couldn't break-out the windows! He frantically called his parents and his father arrived with a pipe wrench and busted out the window and pulled his daughter out of the car. The ambulance arrived and rushed her to the hospital. The doctor told her parents, another 2 minutes she would have been dead!!!

Her mother found her cell phone laying on the seat of her car. She had an unfinished text to the person who sold her the drugs. She started reading his text and it said something to the affect, "take these slow because there laced with something." (Sorry, but I don't remember the exact wording). Her mother started texting the dealer to let the S.O.B. know he almost killed her daughter. Before she finished the text, the police arrived and told her not to send the text. They confiscated the cell phone and traced the text messages back to the dealer. (He was texting her all night because he was worried she over dosed!) The police arrested him at midnight in an upscale neighborhood. He was in his late 40's, worked in construction, had a beautiful wife and two children. He was also an addict and his wife was aware of his drug dealings! What's worse, he was a friend of my niece's brother who is also an addict. (Her brother felt sorry that his friend got arrested and blamed his sister for getting him in trouble!!!!) How F-uped is that!

I can't imagine the heart ache her parents and us would have felt if we lost her that day. What's sad is these parents have 2 out of their 5 children addicted to these drugs. Her mother just learned her friend's son just passed away 2 days ago due to opioid overdose. He was struggling with the addiction for 13 years!

Everyday these parents are faced with the reality they could lose 2 of their 5 siblings to this addiction. They can't force them into rehab because they're both adults. Her brother who is also an addict is married and has two children. The addiction is so strong, their daughter has stolen prescription pain killers from other relatives homes including my own home. It's really sad and pathetic! The craving for these drugs are just overwhelming and few are able to come clean.

So of course her family and I were glad to see that Trump finally declared the opioid epidemic a national emergency. I have thought about this and have strong feelings on what this country should do to fight this epidemic. Some may find it extreme, but extreme problems need extreme solutions. Here is a list of what I feel would go a long way in attacking this national epidemic.

-Any one caught dealing drugs should be given the death penalty. How many people have these dealers supplied drugs to that have ended up dead because of an overdose or drugs laced with another dangerous drug? They're as responsible for those deaths as much as someone who has committed 1st degree murder. They know what they're selling and they know it can cause someone to die. Maybe if drug dealers knew there was an extreme price to pay if they got caught dealing drugs, the money to sell drugs would be much less attractive.

-Known addicts should be forced into rehab, no matter what their age. Once rehabilitated, they would be responsible to make monthly payments to cover all medical costs. The government should be able to garnish their wages and keep any income tax refunds until fully paid. A small price to pay for saving them from a life of addiction and possible death. I also think it would directly reduce the crime rates in this country. Considering many robberies and murders stem from the need for money to pay for their drug addictions.

-Since street gangs are notorious for dealing drugs on the street, it's about time "street gangs" and any other organization that have been involved in drugs, crime and murder be declared "illegal." The help of the military, CIA, and local police force should be used to eliminate these organizations that recruit our children and do nothing but terrorize neighborhoods.

-Increase surveillance on drug cartels and use the military to eliminate their sanctuaries.

-There should be a national healthcare forum to find ways of controlling prescribed addictive pain medication.

-Labs across the country in collaboration with labs around the world, should focus on developing medication that can offset the physical and mental aspects of addiction. This would surly lead to other therapies and medication that would also address alcohol and food addictions.

-Elementary and middle schools should be showing documentaries of the effects of opioid addiction and the dangers of drugs. Children are impressionable at a young age and this is when we should be scaring the hell out of them about the dangers of taking drugs! I remember back when I was attending middle school, we were shown videos in our health class of people shooting up on heroin, dying of overdoses and hallucinating on '___'. Those videos scared many kids like myself who wouldn't have dared to even think of taking those drugs! Unfortunately, just like other teaching techniques that worked in education over the years, it was eliminated.

So ATS, what are your ideas on combating the opioid addiction problem in this country? Do you agree with my ideas, if not why?

The death penalty for selling drugs?

Can we start with GlaxoSmithKline?

Or how about our own government?

Do you think it's a coincidence that the US invades and occupies a country where opium is the primary export, and a few years later we have an opiod epidemic?

Let's start with the real criminals.

I'm happy to hear that she got a second chance, I hope she can overcome the addiction.



I do not agree with your first four ideas mainly because I believe in personal responsibility and I don't believe we should waste anymore tax dollars on the war on drugs, it hasn't worked yet.

I have heard people criticize president Trump for putting so much focus on this epidemic, but I think he has heard so many heartbreaking family stories like yours, he instinctively knows the problem is out of control. His administration has put it on one of the front burners!

I'm in recovery,in our local middle class area we lose at least 1 kid a month. So many faces, so many tears. Our court system has tied the hands of law enforcement. Nothing will change, we just try to show them a better way. Sad.....

It's hitting too close to a lot of people's homes. Lots of people are hooked on those opiates. I blame a big part of this on the medical industry, they use these meds to treat symptoms instead of educating the public on how to lessen the inflammation. If you use a proteinase to destroy the inflammatory chemicals sometimes, it lessens the need for blocking pain. It does not always work, but it does work half the time. Simple supplements or foods can stop the need for many medicines like this, common mustard in your fridge can stop muscle cramps too. .

a reply to: rickymouse

It's also a product of equivocating morality with legality.

If it's legal, it must be ok.

That's what happens when you've brainwashed an entire generation into worshipping the state.

Sorry, but Trump saying opioids are bad is the equivalent of Nancy Reagan saying "Just say no."

Except now drug companies are reaping windfall profits off of all of the opioids drugs that are over prescribed.

But our Attorney General wants to crack down on states that legalized cannabis? I have many friends who suffer from chronic pain that use cannabis and aren't incapacitated or doing anything illegal other than using cannabis in a state where it is not legal. Meanwhile, kids are stealing fentanyl patches and their grandparents meds and eventually get on the horse since it's cheaper and easier to score.

So yeah, boo Trump, boo Sessions...
They're both at the teat of big pharma and private prison lobbyists.

originally posted by: rickymouse
It's hitting too close to a lot of people's homes. Lots of people are hooked on those opiates. I blame a big part of this on the medical industry, they use these meds to treat symptoms instead of educating the public on how to lessen the inflammation. If you use a proteinase to destroy the inflammatory chemicals sometimes, it lessens the need for blocking pain. It does not always work, but it does work half the time. Simple supplements or foods can stop the need for many medicines like this, common mustard in your fridge can stop muscle cramps too. .

Just curious, don't want to derail the thread, but I have chronic nerve pain due to injuries in several places. Is there anything I can eat to lessen it?
And no, I don't take anything for it, sciatic nerves and radial nerve injuries.

a reply to: WeRpeons

-Elementary and middle schools should be showing documentaries of the effects of opioid addiction and the dangers of drugs. Children are impressionable at a young age and this is when we should be scaring the hell out of them about the dangers of taking drugs! I remember back when I was attending middle school, we were shown videos in our health class of people shooting up on heroin, dying of overdoses and hallucinating on '___'. Those videos scared many kids like myself who wouldn't have dared to even think of taking those drugs! Unfortunately, just like other teaching techniques that worked in education over the years, it was eliminated.

YouTube ts full of documentaries and videos of the horrible effect of using drugs, and it has increased the use, not decreased it. Children think they are invincible, it won't happen to them, and they think it is all fun and games.

They have a YouTube site call Druglabs were they video themselves using all kind of drugs. They claim it is supposed to help kids take drugs safely. Want to see just how ignorant children can be? YouTube search "salvia", and see just how insane this drug business is.

Whether it is elicit drugs, salvia, licking Bofu frogs, Angel trumpet tea, or mushrooms, those that want an escape from reality will find one.

The problem isn't the drugs. The problem is the people taking the drugs. Our society is sick and broken. We need to start there. Look at what happened Saturday in Charlottesville. More evidence of just how sick, twisted, and broken our society has become.

These drugs are being peddled by Big Pharma. City of Everett, WA sued about it:

Washington city sues big pharma for letting Oxycontin flood black market
-Mayor Ray Stephanson is suing Purdue Pharma, alleging they are responsible for a major opioid epidemic

Everett’s lawsuit, now in federal court in Seattle, accuses Purdue Pharma of gross negligence and nuisance. The city seeks to hold the company accountable, the lawsuit alleges, for “supplying OxyContin to obviously suspicious pharmacies and physicians and enabling the illegal diversion of OxyContin into the black market” and into Everett, despite a company program to track suspicious flows.

source Of course, it's not limited to the specific area, more cities and counties to even states need to investigate.

You want to jail or other drug dealers then you are going to have to go after the CEOs to start with when it comes to opioids. With Heroin gonna have to address the swamp who played Fast and the Furious as well as the cartels bringing it in.

I hope your niece recovers swiftly.

Our member Trollz posted two threads over a year ago pointing out that states that have legalized medical marijuana have reported a decline in opioid use

www.abovetopsecret.com...

And here is another thread from around the same time about

Insys Therapeutics, which profits off of a painkiller 50 times more potent than heroin, has donated $500,000 to a campaign opposing marijuana legalization

www.abovetopsecret.com...

a reply to: WeRpeons

I do know this from personal experience of trying to get friends off this stuff , be prepared for hell with them and do not believe a word they say as to being clean as most will tell you anything but the truth , they will proudly tell you they are off it then 5 minutes later be looking for a fix , lock them in a room till they are clean and they will go straight back to doing what they do even after going through hell ,i have lost 5 friends to this drug over the years .

You have my simpathy

a reply to: NthOther

I can agree with that, but lets not ignore the criminality of peddling this crap. If you don't have a human system to distribute these drugs, than the main source collapses. I think both the source and the dealers need to be attacked.
These dealers are not exactly innocent angels.

We are losing an average of 3 a day in the Vancouver area..been like that for a long time..one day there were 11 deaths.
Good luck with your niece ..I hope she can get, and more importantly..want the help she needs.
Also want to add..killing low level dealers will not fix anything..many are just users themselves trapped in a cycle.

a reply to: WUNK22

I read our local obituaries everyday. It seems like there are 2 or 3 young people dying every week due to overdoses. This epidemic is not localized to any one segment of the population. It's affecting all social classes of society.

Both my daughter and son have known people they went to school with who have died from overdoses. It's sad to see so many young people dying in the prime of their life! I can't understand how young people can even think of taking these drugs when so many of their friends and acquaintances around them are dying! My nieces parents can't even trust their daughter because she'll lie and manipulate people just to satisfy her addiction.

I wish you the best on your recovery. I know the road to recovery has to be tough because addiction to these drugs are so strong.

It is who is at the top of the ladder in regards to the Mr big that might shock you , seen this in my area and it blew me away

Nothing like creating a problem and then fixing it

People like you make me sick! Always looking to blame others for your retard neices problems... People will do their drugs because they like it! No1 puts a gun to their head and says take this... I understand you're looking for some1/something to blame but the truth is you should stop trying to run people lives because of your retarded neices misuse of drugs. I'm sorry about what happened I truly am, but you needa new way to spread your messages . a reply to: WeRpeons

a reply to: lamphead444

Why not be civil?

We all got problems.

Here's a whacky out there stupid idea.

Stop making it a criminal issue, see it as the medical issue that it is, and treat the patient. That is, clean, known quality doses, with the desire to help them get out of the dark pit they are in.

Nah, too logical, I mean, less deaths from overdose, less theft from getting that fix, more help provided to those stuck in that hell, and overall you get your family members back.

Better to just kill the dealers. That will stop an addict seeking a fix.