Heroin(e)

[miamac]

Just had a chance to watch Heroin(e) tonight on Netflix. It's short, less than 40 mins. I would highly recommend it regardless of your side of the experience, though I think a lot of us here on PTO can identify with or see our own loved ones in the film. I appreciated that the director took a positive focus on an inherently negative subject but didn't tip over into asking viewers to sympathize with addiction but perhaps empathize with fellow human beings.

"Once a bustling industrial town, Huntington, West Virginia has become the epicenter of America’s modern opioid epidemic, with an overdose rate 10 times the national average. This flood of heroin now threatens this Appalachian city with a cycle of generational addiction, lawlessness, and poverty. But within this distressed landscape, Peabody Award-winning filmmaker Elaine McMillion Sheldon (Hollow) shows a different side of the fight against drugs -- one of hope."

Watch an interview with Jan Rader, Huntington's first female fire chief, on Meet the Press.

[jadah]

Just this past weekend at work, I took care of a 30 year old mother of two (removed from her care) with a pacemaker, an infection of her sternum of unknown origin, endocarditis, Hep C and cirrhosis of the liver.

The last time we took care of her, she left our facility against medical advise to go get more drugs.

Oh my aching heart. Every time I take care of this woman, I wonder will it be the last.

Where does it all stop?

[Sarianna]

I watched this a little while ago and it just broke my heart to pieces....addiction is devastating, just devastating

[xolady]

I've seen it first hand and really hate what has happened in our country.

[miamac]

Originally Posted by xolady

I've seen it first hand and really hate what has happened in our country.

In my hometown and generation it was meth. But every now and again I'll look at the arrest log for the city and I see heroin taking the space that meth used to. People don't feel like they have a future, or one waking up for, at least.

[milesofmemories]

I've watched this. It is probably one of the realist documentaries I have ever seen. Heroin is becoming an epidemic everywhere it seems. Nobody is untouchable by that stuff. Rich, poor, white, black, old, young...it's awful.

I live in Huntsville, AL and I have noticed the heroin situation get worse since they began the crack down on prescription pain medication. More overdoses, increased jail/prison population for drug offenses, etc. It's the same thing back home in Oregon from what I've heard.

[miamac]

Originally Posted by milesofmemories

It's the same thing back home in Oregon from what I've heard.

That's my home state, too, and it is a huge problem. It feels like we shifted from meth to heroine.

[milesofmemories]

Originally Posted by miamac

That's my home state, too, and it is a huge problem. It feels like we shifted from meth to heroine.

Boils down to drug dealers figuring out what the cheapest product they can produce the quickest with the longest high is. An addict will shift to that instantly.

People need to forget about the war on "pot" and shift their focus and funds to what is causing fatal overdoses.

I work with addicts on a daily basis and watch them struggle with not going back to that every day.

[Benjaminsbaby]

Originally Posted by miamac

That's my home state, too, and it is a huge problem. It feels like we shifted from meth to heroine.

Major issue here in Central CA, only difference Heroin is being cut with Meth and other OTC's causing immediate death, or the worse O'd you could imagine. It is showing up in High Schools here at a rapid rate.

[milesofmemories]

Originally Posted by Benjaminsbaby

Major issue here in Central CA, only difference Heroin is being cut with Meth and other OTC's causing immediate death, or the worse O'd you could imagine. It is showing up in High Schools here at a rapid rate.

Down here (Alabama) it is being cut with Fentanyl and that is what is causing so many of the fatal overdoses.

Like where you're at, it is being introduced into the high schools here. Dealers are making it more appealing by adding color to it (just like they started doing with meth).

The supply here is being run through Atlanta and the problem with that is the sheer capacity of that city, it is nearly impossible to get the big dealers off the street. For every one they arrest, 2 or 3 more pop up.

It's a sad situation.

[cannedsud]

Sad that this is happening right now. Can't the government do anything to stop the circulation of drug? I have seen the negative effects of this and boy, it's difficult if your loved one is going through this.

[miamac]

Originally Posted by cannedsud

Sad that this is happening right now. Can't the government do anything to stop the circulation of drug? I have seen the negative effects of this and boy, it's difficult if your loved one is going through this.

Historically our government has done more to encourage the distribution of drugs than stem it. :/