By Naomi Rivera-Zuganelis
Heroin and opioid addiction is a dangerous and growing epidemic that is not being talked about enough.
On Sept. 27, Indian Trail High School and Academy held the Stairway to Heroin program to inform parents and adolescents on the dangers of drug abuse and how to prevent it.
According to medical sources and former users, addicts don’t start with heroin. Most heroin users start off by abusing alcohol, marijuana, and prescription drugs, also known as opioids.
The Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth stated that the average age that young people begin to drink is 13 years old.
Tyler Lybert, a former heroin addict, talked of his struggle with addiction at the Stairway to Heroin event. Lybert’s abuse of drugs started at a young age.
“I was an 11 year old stuck in a 20-year-old body,”said Lybert, when talking about how drug abuse stunts your maturity.
“Only 4 percent of prescription drugs are bought from a dealer. It comes from you guys, [the parents],” said Detective David Alfredson, of the Kenosha Drug Operation Group, speaking to the audience gathered at Indian Trail’s auditorium.
Every day in the United States, an average of 2,000 teenagers use prescription drugs without a doctor’s guidance for the first time as stated by Rosecrance organization,a private not-for-profit organization offering behavioral health services for children, adolescents, adults and families throughout the country.
One third of teens believe there’s nothing wrong with taking prescription pills recreationally every once in awhile, according to Dr. Timothy Westlake, Director of Emergency Department at Oconomowoc Memorial Hospital.
“Pain will not kill you, but painkillers will,” said Westlake.
Once an addict can’t afford the pills anymore, they move on to heroin because it’s less expensive. It costs about $14 for 0.2 grams of heroin, according to the Drugwise Organization, an international, non-for-profit organization based out of the United Kingdom that provides drug information which is topical, evidence-based and non-judgemental.
Once becoming addicted, heroin takes control of your life.
“Everyday I watched this drug destroy my brother’s body,” said Kristina Besch, the sister of an addict. “It was so hard for me to watch this, but imagine how hard it was for him to live it.”
“Heroin took hold of my brother’s life,” said Besch. “There are a lot of things that we come across in life and respond with, ‘That could never happen to me.’ Unfortunately, yes it can. Addiction can happen to anyone.”
“Forty percent of high school seniors think that it’s not harmful to try heroin once or twice,” according to the Do Something organization.
“That really frightens me because one try could result in death or addiction, and it isn’t worth it,” said Maria Kotz, principal at Indian Trail High School and Academy, “[Education about drugs] starts at home. Parents are the most important help.”
“We need to teach not only the dangers of [heroin] but how to react if you ever become face to face with it. Sharing stories and connecting with real people who have experienced the dangers of drugs and addiction should be the biggest component of education in our schools,” said Besch.
Something as simple as having family dinners and being comfortable enough to talk with your children about drug abuse and the consequences that come with it can make a major impact in the probability of drug abuse in youth.
No one plans nor wants to become an addict, it just takes over, said Lybert.
“I couldn’t stop the need. I couldn’t stop the want,” said Lybert.