"These are bright, talented individuals, our future, and they're dying." (Blog Post #1

Drug overdose does not discriminate; it is not confined to the poor, to the young, to the criminals, or to the disadvantaged. Two years ago, I was walking across the parking lot from my school to the gym where I was supposed to have tennis practice and I received a phone call. Upon receiving the news that I did over the phone I immediately froze, I couldn’t get any words out, it felt as if my tongue was literally tied in knots, and my face felt like it was on fire as the warm tears streamed down my face. I ran back to my grandmother’s car and the only words that I could get out of my mouth were, “HOSPITAL…NOW!” And thankfully, she trusted that something was going on and didn’t question me at all. As I arrived at the hospital, I seen people in my family that I haven’t seen in years surrounded around in a circle outside talking. I panicked; I ran to the ER desk and told them the room I needed to go to. They wouldn’t let me back until I stopped crying, because if I upset him, he may not make it. As I stood over the hospital bed as he struggled to stay alive the nurses and doctors told me that he wasn’t going to make it, there was no way, they already tried the Narcan, and he wasn’t pulling through. I walked up and gave him a kiss on the cheek, and told him he needed to be strong for me, I wasn’t strong enough to deal with him passing just yet, and guess what? Today he is breathing, today he is recovered, and today heroin is the last thing on his mind. That day I knew that I needed to make a stand, I knew that I needed to change the stereotype of addicts thinking that there is no consequence and that Narcan will always save them.

From 1999 to 2015 the amount of drug overdoses skyrocketed from less than 17,000 to over 52,000. You see people who don’t use drugs calling the addicted weak and told that they can control what they’re doing if they wanted too, however they can’t; Addiction is a disease, a disease that needs intervention and extensive treatment and support, not one that can be fought on one’s own.

Because of the fact that the use of these drugs can be fatal, it causes a huge cultural and ethical problem. Some people believe that saving the addict simply enables them and makes them think that they shouldn’t be saved because they will always rely on the Narcan and think they don’t have the possibility of a fatal overdose. Then we have the other half of people who believe Narcan should ALWAYS be used because that person is not just an addict, they have a life and family, kids, jobs, etc. they’re a human just like we are. They should be saved not allowed to just die when there’s more that we could have done. Some addicts need the near fatal overdose to end their addiction and help them open their eyes. So before you take a stance, please talk to someone who has seen a loved one go through this!