Since inhalants are sometimes found in the home, getting rid of the risk altogether is hard. But one thing that many parents are beginning to do is to buy products that are organic in nature. For example, instead of cleaning with ammonia, they might clean with vinegar, which is not harmful. Plus, keeping these products away from young children is important as is being aware that some kids may choose to abuse them. For example, if you are worried that someone is at risk for abusing these products, you can keep them in a secure place, making them at least harder to obtain in your home.

If you do have someone you are worried about, tell a trusted adult. Or, consider saying something. Here is some practical advice if you decide to talk to your friend first: you might want to gently bring up the topic privately when your friend is in a good mood, seemingly open to discussion and NOT when you suspect that the person has been using. Tell your friend that you are worried he is using inhalants and then, if your friend confides that he does, ask him why he does it. Being non-judgmental about it is really important. Whatever his reasons are, those reasons need to be heard and accepted for progress to happen.

Listen with the intention of really hearing him and to understand what he may be feeling and going through. Repeat to him what you think is causing the need for him to inhale and make sure you’ve got it right. Then ask him if you could help him. Tell him you are worried about his health and you know the risks. Tell him to read this post. 

If your friend tells you not to tell anyone, you may need to have a frank but difficult conversation. You can die using inhalants, so you will need to think about what is the best thing to do. Consider telling him that you will go with him to a trusted adult to help manage the situation. Or, you can tell your trusted adult about the situation so that person can help manage the situation and help decide what else might need to be done. 

Of course you don’t want anything bad to happen to your friend. Things happen when you use inhalants. Bad things. Even death. So take action to save a life. If you are worried about losing your friend because you say something, always remember that losing a friendship is better than someone losing a life. One can be repaired, the other can not.

You’ll need help to quit, or if you know someone who smokes or vapes, chances are they will need help. The likelihood of quitting successfully in regards to smoking and vaping is largely increased by getting help.

• If you like to call toll free lines, please try 800-QUIT NOW (800-784-8669)
• If you like to talk to people in person, please see a therapist and consider some behavior therapy, which has been proven to be effective. Or you may wish to find a therapist skilled in hypnosis, which has also been reported to have success.
• If you like to try over the counter ideas, nicotine patches and gums are available to curb the addictive qualities of smoking.
• And if you are strong like bull, and have an incredible desire and motivation, then just quit cold-turkey. People do it all the time, although the success rates are higher with other supportive methods.

No matter what route you take, we suggest you tell people about your intentions to quit. The people who love you will support you. The more you “put it out there,” the more real it becomes (did you read the part in The Your Self Series books about thoughts, words and deeds?).

You will need to make some plans to quit and you will need to get plenty of support from friends and family. So, if you hang out with people who smoke or vape, you may need to not hang out with them for a while—until you are strong enough to be with them without the urge to smoke or vape.

It is not easy to quit, which is why we emphasize the importance of never starting or at least stopping before you’re so addicted that for you, quitting feels impossible (that’s just a feeling, not reality).

Some people worry that they will gain weight if they stop smoking. Is this a fear for you?

If so, read up on nutrition and exercise—you do NOT have to gain weight when you give up smoking and/or vaping.

Here’s the real deal, just so you know what you may be up against:

In one typical study, 40% of teens who tried to quit relapsed in one week or less; only 3% had stayed smoke-free a year later. That’s a staggering statistic. Only 3%. But you can be one of that 3%. In fact, we are hoping, as more teens begin to understand why they choose to smoke and examine who they wish to be, that 3% will grow to 100%… or perhaps teens will never start smoking in the first place.

So, before you light up, ask yourself:

Do I want to be part of that 3%?

YES NO

Do I want to damage my lungs, my heart, my brain, my lifestyle and my future?

YES NO

Do I want to cause harm to other people with the side effects caused by secondhand smoke?

YES NO

Moreover, many teenage unwanted pregnancies are the result of making poor decisions while intoxicated. Thus, you will become pregnant because of alcohol and if you continue to drink your child may suffer from FAS.

It is never too soon to think about all the ways alcohol can negatively impact your life. It’s your life. What will you make of it?

Wait? What? How could there be a controversy around a crisis? Doesn’t everyone just want to help and make things better?

Most people do want the crisis to end but the controversy lies in how the United Staes has traditionally handled drug crimes.  

Back in the 1980’s, politicians declared a “War on Drugs,” and increased the penalties for possessing or selling drugs (the Anti-Drug Abuse Act of 1986 was enacted). Many drug crimes became felonies—which means that the minimum sentence would be imprisonment. This led to an EXPLOSION in the US prison population and in particular to the arrest and imprisonment of black men and women. 

However, statistics and research demonstrates that black men and women are not the largest users of drugs (white college men and women are). How then is it possible that more black men and women ended up in jail? To explain that in detail is not possible in this sub-post (but if you want to read about it, it is detailed in the book The New Jim Crow), but the bottom line is that racist practices were employed by the US political and justice system. (Another source available online that also supports this claim can be found here: https://storage.googleapis.com/vera-web-assets/downloads/Publications/for-the-record-unjust-burden/legacy_downloads/for-the-record-unjust-burden-racial-disparities.pdf)

As an example, in the 1980’s the target of many news stories and therefore drug raids was crack, a cheaper form of cocaine. The penalty for crack was imprisonment however, even though cocaine is basically the same drug with the same risks, the penalty for cocaine was not. Why the difference? Many believe it was because crack use was higher among poor, minority populations because it was cheaper than cocaine, the drug of choice for upper-middle class drug users. As a result, thousands of black men and women were sent to jail for essentially the same crime as cocaine use, but cocaine users did not receive the same punishment. Once in the prison system, these people’s lives were changed forever and a cycle of incarceration began (meaning once in the system it was very hard to return to life free of the prison system because being labeled a felon keeps you from many jobs, housing and even government assistance opportunities). 

Many politicians saw the 1986 Anti-Drug Abuse Act for what it was—discriminatory. Finally, in 2010, the Fair Sentencing Act was passed changing many of the details of the 1986 law, mainly that for a 5 year conviction you didn’t have to have 100 times the amount of cocaine to equal that of the crack felony; now you need only 18 times the amount of cocaine to equal a crack felony. (Yes, you read that right… still not fair.)

(Source: https://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/resources/crack-vrs-powder-cocaine-one-drug-two-penalties.htm)

So how does this relate to the opioid crisis? Well, when the “crack crisis” happened the response from the government was to punish—to send people to prison. Today, with the “opioid crisis” people are urging a more compassionate approach, such as methadone treatment and rehabilitation centers. Why the difference in approach? Well, that’s the controversy. Many people believe it is race-based: the opioid crisis is affecting all classes, but in particular middle to upper class citizens—doctors, lawyers, bankers, nurses, businessmen and businesswomen—i.e., white people.

Other countries do not criminalize drug crimes the way the US has in the past, and indeed, the US has the highest prison population IN THE WORLD—a direct result of the War on Drugs that incarcerated black people at much higher rates than white people. Hence, many people today are speaking up about the injustices that have happened to black people as a result of the War on Drugs and many are seeking changes in the law and policing practices. 

So, the controversy surrounds just how the crack and opioid crises were/are being handled. In short, many people support compassionately approaching the opioid crisis, but they want the difference in the approaches to be laid bare. Through such knowledge, we can also begin to tackle the imprisonment crisis happening in this country.  

If you are at a party and you are worried that you might get in trouble if you call to report a possible overdose, The Good Samaritan Law protects you if you call for help. It offers you legal protection when you help someone who is ill, injured or in peril.  (Source: health.ny.gov.)

HOWEVER! And this is a big however, if the person dies from an drug overdose, the laws in this country, as of this writing, do not protect you if you supplied the drugs or otherwise helped the person ingest the drugs. The law not only does NOT protect you if you are the dealer, but you will face serious criminal charges. Many, many people have ended up in prison because a friend or family member died and they provided the drugs. The charge is called “drug delivery resulting in death.” This is yet another reason to not do drugs, not to supply drugs, and not be near anyone else who does. 

Here is a short, real life story of one person who broke this law: 

In 2016, Caleb Smith had just completed his Master’s degree in biomedical sciences and hoped to be a doctor. He gave his girlfriend medication that he had bought off the internet. He thought is was Adderall but it was actually fentanyl. He was charged with her death. He then committed suicide.

(Please read this article to learn more: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/25/us/drug-overdose-prosecution-crime.html)

As  you have learned, people overdose when they ingest/consume too much of a substance for their body to properly metabolize (meaning digest) and therefore the body begins to fail. Death can occur.

“Common symptoms of overdose, which can result in death if not treated, include: extremely pale face, clammy skin, limp body, blue or purple fingers or lips, difficulty awakening from sleep, unable to speak, slowed or stopped breathing, slowed or stopped heartbeat, vomiting, a decrease in the amount of oxygen that reaches the brain (i.e., hypoxia), and gurgling noises during labored breathing.” (Source: Instructional Resource Packet for Heroin & Opioids)

Recognizing that someone has overdosed on heroin specifically can be difficult. However, signs that are a warning that a person is in distress (from opioid use or another drug) are:

• unconsciousness or being unresponsive
• shallow breathing and, of course, no breathing
• pupils (the dark center of your eyes) that are like pinpoints rather than normal size

If someone has these symptoms, do not leave the person alone and call 911 immediately. If you suspect that these symptoms are from a drug overdose say so to the first responder.

Knowing these signs could help you to save a life. With heroin and other opioids, an overdose can be reversed if medicinal drugs are administered quickly enough. Narcan/Naloxone are two such drugs drugs that doctors prescribe to help people who overdose, or are very sick, from heroin and other opioid use. Basically, they reverse the overdose when administered in time. 

However, the standard dose of Naloxone is often not strong enough to save al life when synthetic opioids have been used, especially fentanyl, which is claiming the most lives. 

If you are waiting for a first responder and know that someone has overdosed on an opioid, CPR is recommended since an overdose of sedatives and opioids decreases breathing and heart function—victims literally choke to death because they can’t breathe in enough air to sustain their organs. 

The best way to save a life? Be informed. Be like Nicki and don’t be afraid to ask your friends questions. If you think someone needs more information and guidance, share this website and/or encourage them to ask their doctor more questions. Help them to learn that addiction happens all too often and teens are especially susceptible. That slippery slope is out there.

The best way to not become addicted is to follow the label instructions and stop taking the painkillers as soon as possible. If you suspect that a friend is using/abusing prescription drugs, say something!

For more information on addiction, please see the main post on it here.

In 2014, the top ten drugs, in order, that killed people were:  Heroin, cocaine, oxycodone, alprazolam, fentanyl, morphine, methamphetamine, methadone, hydrocodone, diazepam.

(source: http://time.com/4607935/these-are-the-10-most-deadly-drugs/)

Are we trying to turn you into a chemist by knowing what all these drugs are? Of course not! But we do want you to know that these drugs are killing people at alarming rates. Six of the top ten drugs listed above are opioids (five true opioids, one a synthetic opioid) and heroin is the #1 killer! The point of telling you this is so you make the connection that HEROIN=DEATH in many, many case, and that HEROIN RUINS YOUR LIFE in almost all cases. This is just fact, not a scare tactic. 

Warning Signs

As you already read, the most common route to trying heroin is through prescription pain medications. It’s a slippery slope! What are the warning signs then of someone who may be using heroin or any other opioid? 

When someone begins abusing drugs, their behavior usually changes. You will see mood swings, a decrease in overall enjoyment in activities, impulsive actions, distancing from you, hanging out with a new group (that is often known for doing drugs), 

Warning signs specific to opioid use according to the Instructional Resource Packet for Heroin & Opioids are:

“changes in physical appearance, academic or social behavior; drastic and sudden changes in peer circles/friends; evidence of paraphernalia; unusual sleepiness or drowsiness; mental confusion; slurred speech; intoxicated behavior; slow or shallow breathing; pinpoint pupils; slow heartbeat; low blood pressure; and difficulty waking the person from sleep.”

Treatment

Methadone, Buprenorphine and Suboxone are the medications used to treat people with opioid addiction. They are a synthetic form of opium. They work by staving off the horrendous withdrawals but they have an added blocking element so that person doesn’t get high from them. (They do for opioid addicts what nicotine patches do for smokers.) 

The most effective rehab involves a combination of social supports, counseling and medicated assisted therapies (MAT—use of the medicines listed above). The social support is huge because addicts often feel like they are treated as sub-human given the stigma surrounding addiction.  And that stigma is where much of the shame, embarrassment, and horrendous self-talk creeps in, disabling the recovery process.   

Even though the use of MAT has found such success (it prevents overdose deaths by 40-60% of cases) most rehab centers in America are not able to use it due to its expense.

Too many lives are lost and families torn apart—physically and emotionally—from this national crisis, but there is hope! 

If you see someone struggling do not hesitate to investigate further. You could be saving a life. The next post will tell you just how you go about doing that in real time.

The opioid crisis is hitting communities HARD all across this country. You read about the slippery slope so you know how the opioid addiction began—prescribed pain medication became abused and many people became addicted. They then turned to cheaper and easier methods to get high, often using heroin. Sometimes people injected the heroin with unsafe needles, exposing them to diseases like HIV/AIDS. Soon, stronger synthetic drugs like fentanyl were put in heroin, causing a spike in overdose deaths. 

So, prescription medicines are the route many people took that ended them on addiction lane. Sadly though, a road map leading to that route was provided by pharmaceutical practices and the marketing of OxyContin. Huh? How? OxyContin is a time-released prescribed pain killer marketed as safe by its manufacturer Purdue Pharma. But Purdue Pharma hired sales reps to convince doctors in certain communities (where a lot of factory workers were needing pain meds for injuries) who were prescribing “immediate release” opioids that with OxyContin addiction was rare. The more sales these reps made, the higher their bonuses, so they were motivated to convince the doctors of OcyContin’s safety. Here, it is argued, is where the route to addiction began. This ended up in a big trial.  (Source: NPR)

The Purdue Pharma trial, unfortunately, depicts the incredible human toll this crisis is taking. Parents of teens and young adults who had overdosed and died came from all over the country to be in the courtroom and face whom they believed were responsible for their children’s deaths. Their stories are heart wrenching and unfortunately, repeated daily throughout the nation. The devastation to families is beyond words.

These families’ stories represent a crisis that is crippling our nation: it is taking hard working, self-respecting, healthy individuals and turning them into addicts. An addict often feels debilitating shame, is unable to contribute to society and is definitely not healthy. Worse, an addict can (not in all cases!) turn to other illegal activities to support his habit. In short, the numbers and facts that you read in these posts don’t capture the hardships and despair felt by the addicts and by the families surrounding them.

In addition, the economic toll is immense. In communities like Huntington, West Virginia, where the opioid crisis is ten times the national average, they spent roughly over $1,000 per person in healthcare costs just associated with drug use in 2015. Those numbers are likely higher now. That’s a huge cost to society. At the rate we are going, this country could bankrupt itself. We simply can’t keep spending at this rate without dire consequences. Which is one of the reasons why the US government has declared this a crisis. As a crisis, the government can spend a lot more money to try to battle the epidemic. 

The economic and emotional toll is profound. Every demographic is affected. Those who survive and/or are living as addicts describe heroin in particular as having its own brain within your brain; it simply takes over. As such, people do what others may consider outrageous—leaving their families, their children, their friends, their entire support system, to get high “just one more time.” Unfortunately, many lose the battle with this addiction and leave loved ones in even more agony, wondering what else they could have done. 

So as you read these posts and you learn really important information about how the the crisis began (The Slippery Slope), about the Warning Signs and Treatment Options, about the different kinds of Opioids and Opiates, and importantly, How to Save a Life, don’t forget the bottom line:

Opioids kill people at alarming rates everyday. And the addiction starts in what seems to be the most harmless and even innocent of ways—a doctor’s prescription. But it ends with real tragedy that saturates countless people with grief, pain, shame, guilt and loneliness. 

Spend some time talking to friends and family about this national crisis. What do you think the country could do to help stop it? 

Heroin is the most common and dangerous opioid street drug. It is a depressant which is why it is so effective in numbing pain.  It interferes both with the brain’s pain centers and pleasure centers.  As a result, users feel a “rush” (a feeling of euphoria) upon using the drug, along with a warm flushing of the skin and a heavy feeling in their arms and legs. After this initial rush, users go into a drowsy state where their mental functioning is impaired because the central nervous system is depressed.

Heroin comes in a powdered form (and just like ecstasy, this means it can have many other substances cut into it) and can be used in a variety of ways. Often people inject heroin, therefore they need a needle. The sharing of needles among drug users is one of the main ways AIDS/HIV has spread. The use of sterile needles greatly reduces the risk of spreading disease. 

ALERT!!! Heroin is mixed with other dangerous chemicals. No one can be aware of what has been added to the heroin, which is what makes it so deadly!

Long-term use of heroin causes many, many complications including collapsed veins, infections, abscesses, liver disease and breathing complications. The breathing issues stem from the fact that heroin suppresses (meaning lessens) breathing because of the opioid receptors in the brain stem (where breathing is regulated). In addition, the effects on the brain are unlimited—heroin affects the very connections that are made in the brain which can cause memory issues and decision-making problems, seizures and brain injury. Behavior and responses to stress can be impaired as well.  The health of heroin users declines noticeably often causing them to succumb (meaning to give in, break down)  to a wide variety of health issues that may result in death. 

Withdrawal symptoms from heroin are quite profound (meaning extreme, great) and place a burden on the body. What is withdrawal? Withdrawal happens when a person stops using a substance and the body, having been altered by the use of the substance, now craves that substance in order to function properly. That craving can cause a number of severe physical and psychological reactions. Withdrawal from heroin is so intense, that people trying to give up heroin are often monitored (meaning, carefully watched) by medical professionals.  Many times they need to be slowly weened off of heroin to avoid life threatening withdrawal. To slowly ween someone off something is like if you have a habit of eating 3 cookies every day and you want to stop you might slowly ween yourself off that habit by eating 2 1/2 and then 2 and then 1…. you get the idea!

Withdrawal from heroin produces HUGE drug cravings, restlessness, pain, diarrhea, vomiting, cold flashes with goose bumps (hence the term “cold turkey”), kicking movements (hence the term “kicking the habit”) and other symptoms that peak 2-3 days after last using the drug. These symptoms only go away after about a week. These symptoms are so bad that when you combine them with the usually poor health of regular users, death can occur from the withdrawal—the body is unable to recover. This is one reason people should seek medical health when trying to quit.

With withdrawal so awful and the addiction so powerful, you can imagine why so many people can’t quit. People have been known to sell their homes, their bodies, even their children for heroin. No exaggeration.

(Above information from drugfree.org.)