Readers Reflect on “suburban heroin addicts” article
https://www.northjersey.com/allendale/The_grim_life_of_North_Jerseys_suburban_heroin_addicts.html
Really good article. There isn’t much more to add. It’s interesting how weed and coke are not even the gateway drugs anymore. The gateway drugs are available at your local pharmacy as long as you can convince a doctor to prescribe them.
These articles just scare the shit out of me.
Me too. I have a small child, and shudder to think this is a possible future.
I also have a close family member who checked out during the late 90′s and didn’t kick the habit until around 2005. It sucked years out of the person’s life, and now the person can’t believe that heroin was such a big part of life. Not everyone is that strong / determined. If you know someone who’s addicted, the most important thing to do is let them know you’re there and will help in any way that doesn’t involve getting them high. Eventually they will come around, or die, sad to say. There is too much variance in potency out on the street…most people who OD just didn’t understand what they were cooking, or, quit for a while and reduced their tolerance and didn’t adjust their dosage accordingly.
Bad stuff on it’s own; add the fact that it’s illegal and sold in bad neighborhoods by bad people and it’s a recipe for a lot of heartbreak.
It is a grim life. All of the people in the photos should get help.
I am a step parent of one of the arrestees, I’ve done 30+ years in law enforcement. The story is on point and extremely accurate the sad part is the people arrested brought this on themsel’ves. The damage they do to their bodies and their minds is miniscule compared to the damage they do to their loved ones. The family begins a “silent or unspoken if you will” countdown until that dreaded phone call or knock on the door your child is dead they suffered cardiac arrest due to an “overingestion of a narcotic substance.” I’ve had to make that notification more than once in my career make no mistake this is a real problem that is not going away.