On 7/5/2015 12:30 PM, Wayne.B wrote:
On Sun, 05 Jul 2015 10:24:07 -0400, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 7/5/2015 7:03 AM, Wayne.B wrote:
On Sun, 05 Jul 2015 04:58:53 -0400, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

Certain areas of the south shore in MA are seriously affected by
kids and young adults becoming addicted to heroin. It's a major crisis.

===

That surprises me. I've always thought of that area as being solidly
middle class with stable families. Am I wrong?



You are not wrong. These are not "inner city", gang ridden locations.
They are solidly middle class bedroom type communities in and around
Plymouth county. In many cases the origins of the addiction starts with
doctors and dentists being too liberal with Oxycontin prescriptions.
Peer pressure in young people contributes in
a major way with young people seeking instant pleasure and "fun".
When Oxycontin becomes unavailable or too expensive heroin becomes the
drug of choice because it's cheaper and readily available.

The family member affected by heroin addiction is my niece. She has been
hooked since high school. She is now in her 30's and is losing all her
hair due to side affects of drug use. Once a very attractive girl and
woman, she is almost unrecognizable today. She survives on methadone
between relapse periods when she goes back to the heroin. There are no
drug addicts in her blood relatives. If you talk to her when she has
been clean for a while she will admit that it's a "choice" she makes,
although a bad one.


===

Sad situation for sure and it must be very tough on you and her
parents. Perhaps this is naive on my part, but if she is already
getting an opiate (methadone) at little or no cost, why would it be a
problen to give her the heroin that she really craves? (assuming it
was legal to do so) I'm sure everyone would like to see her totally
clean and a fully functioning adult, but is that realistic after all
these years as an addict?


I can't think of any parent or concerned relative who would want to just
give up and let the addict continue to spiral out of control until they
die due to an overdose.

There's more to my story and reasons I feel the way I do. It involves
another person but I am not ready to share much about it yet.